Minister of Tourism Dr. Abdulla Mausoom has revealed that cruise tourism will soon begin in Haa Alifu Atoll.
Responding to questions at the Parliament of the Maldives, Minister Mausoom said cruise tourism needs to be introduced in the Maldives and that work is being conducted to introduce it in Haa Alifu Atoll. The minister said that discussions have been made with Royal Caribbean Cruises to begin cruises in 2023. He said the current work consists of identifying calling locations for cruise liners.
Furthermore, Minister Mausoom said that there are regulatory challenges in introducing cruise tourism and that it was important to make changes to the regulations to allow foreigners to travel to the islands if they are tourists who entered the country with a passport.
Cruise liners occasionally travel to the Maldives and mainly dock near the Greater Male’ Region.