In a bid to attract global travelers, Maldives has come up with an exciting
news for all those who are planning to visit this beautiful paradise.
Maldives is going be something more than just for airlines and hotels. It is in
a track to become the world’s first country to have its own hospitality loyalty
program, this is expected to provide a big push to tourism post COVID 19
pandemic.
"Maldives Border Miles is a three-tiered loyalty program for tourists. Tourists
will earn points based on the number of visits and duration of stay.
Additional points will be awarded for visits to celebrate special occasions”,
this announcement was made on 28th September by Maldives Immigration,
an official government-run Twitter account.
The Maldives Island has set a huge focus on tourism despite its size, with a
current population of just over 540,500 citizens. In 2019, Maldives had
welcomed nearly more than 1.5 million tourists, which surpasses the 2018
figure of nearly 1.48 million tourists.
With regards to Corona virus pandemic, however, according to the data
provided by the Health Ministry of Maldives, currently the country has
10,291 confirmed cases of corona virus and nearly 34 deaths. The tally of
active cases in Maldives stands at 1,142 while 9,108 people have recovered.
Maldives Border Miles Program
The three-tiered loyalty program is knows as the Maldives Border Miles
Program. The three tiers include , Bronze, Silver and Gold levels.
The first tier is the Bronze level and it is known as "Aida". The word "Aida" is
derived from Divehi linguistic, and is referred to as bright star in the sky.
The second tier is the Silver level and is known as "Antara". The name "Antara" means attractiveness and prestige.
The last, that is, the third and the most prestigious tier is the Gold level.
Gold level is termed as "Abaarana". This particular word "Abaarana" is an horrific name given to monarchs.
According to this concept of Maldives Border Miles Program, one can gain
travel points and use those points during their visit.
But How Will Travelers' Respond to This?
There is a dilemma on how will the traveler’s respond to this first-of-its-kind
initiative. This is completely dependent on how the global travel will look
after the COVID 19 pandemic.
For the island, Tourism is one of the major sectors for its economy. And
tourism accounts for nearly two-thirds of its GDP.
The GDF of Maldives is expected to contract approximately by 8.5% in 2020,
which is currently 13.9 percentage points lower than the pre-COVID 19 era,
as stated by a World Bank report.
In this country, Tourism employs nearly one-third of adult males and nearly
a quarter of adult females. In relation to this, the travel restrictions due to
the pandemic has adversely affected the employment and household
earnings of a lot of people residing there.
Maldives was one of the first countries in Asia to reopen it’s borders on July,
similar to the UAE's Dubai, being heavily dependent on the tourism and
hospitality industry for its economy. The visitors slowly began to visit
Maldives since July.
This particular island nation had reopened it’s borders in July in order to
boost the tourism sector and the total economy of the country. A lot of
facilities have been promoted as well, like, visa on arrival, easy access to
shores, and no quarantine for the tourists.
One of the travel industry expert thinks that, this idea could have long term
potential.
Scott Keyes, the founder of the Scott's Cheap Flights newsletter, informs
CNN Travels that, this is perhaps the most innovative move made by a
country's tourism board since Iceland's 'free stopover en route to Europe'
program.
A representative for Maldives' national tourism board has informed that this
particular program is most likely to be implemented in December 2020 as
per the reports.
But still for the tourists, it’s not yet clear as to what kind of perks will the individuals in these three categories get, and how the points will be accumulated.
Since Maldives is known for its luxury, the hotel rates in Maldives can be
pricey. Hence, points system could balance out some of these costs with
freebies and upgrades.
Other Destinations With Similar Options
With the country wide campaign expected to role out on December 1st ,
Maldives is not the only one in the list of destination who has got creative
following this global corona virus crisis.
However, if you, a travel lover, are keen to explore some other similar
options, then you should definitely check out the other destinations as well:
The Caribbean islands of Anguilla, Barbados and Aruba. They are all offering
extended visas to people who are looking out for a prettier place to work
remotely.
The Faroe Islands, have got equally creative as well. They have set up a
website where wannabe visitors could “remote-control” a local sightseer.
Written by – Sandhya R
Edited by – Adrija Saha
Social