Guesthouse Association of Maldives To Conduct Virtual Forum ‘Guesthouse Opinion’

12 May, 2020

Guesthouse Association of Maldives (GAM) has decided to conduct a virtual discussion forum “Guesthouse Opinion” with guesthouse owners and operators of Maldives to discuss and share opinion regarding the current situation due to COVID-19.

Guesthouse Association of Maldives (GAM) said a series of virtual forums starting this Tuesday will see guesthouse owners and operators discuss and share their opinion on the current situation.

“GAM will take the concerns of the operators received from this forum to the relevant authorities and formulate an SOP to facilitate smooth operations when the guesthouses reopen for the market,” an announcement read.

GAM has earlier said the Maldives’ guesthouse sector would face losses of some $28.9 million due to the pandemic.

Publishing the results of a survey in March, the local representative body said it is uncertain when the outbreak will be contained but the impact on the guesthouse sector will last for at least six months.

These projections corroborate with a World Bank report that said guesthouse owners and their employees will bear the brunt of the economic impact on the Maldives lucrative tourism industry by the coronavirus pandemic.

Maldivian officials have been bullish on their ability to contain the coronavirus outbreak and reopen the country in the third quarter of the year.

The government has formulated five scenarios with possible timelines for reopening borders and the tourism sector.

The best case scenario sees the country reopen borders by May, but the most likely scenario projects a July date for reopening the borders and restarting tourism in October. In the worst case, borders may only open by January 2021.