The UK government has announced that it has decided to remove the Maldives from its travel red list.
The UK government stated the Maldives will be moved to the amber list for entering England on September 22. The UK had placed the Maldives on its red list on May 12 over the spike in COVID-19 cases in the country.
However, since then the Maldives has seen a significant decrease in COVID-19 cases and a high vaccination rate compared to most countries. The UK government stated the Maldives is among eight countries removed from the red list. The other countries removed from the red list are Turkey, Egypt, Sri Lanka, Oman, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Kenya.
Statistics from the Ministry of Tourism show a large number of tourist arrivals are from the UK, which has contributed to 2.8% of tourist arrivals so far this year. Statistics also show the country was one of the top five sources of tourist visits in 2019 and remains in the top 10 sources of tourist visits to the Maldives in 2021.