(TAN): Maldives has launched the world’s first traveller loyalty rewards program to attract visitors after its tourism sector took a hit due to the 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,” Maldives Immigration tweeted.
The program will begin from December 1. The loyalty program, Maldives Border Miles, will reward tourists for regular visits, with members progressing up three tiers.
Points will be awarded on each border occasion, with more given for visits on special occasions, and regular visitors will earn special privileges and move up the tiers.
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The Daily Mail quoted Scott Keyes, founder of the Scott’s Cheap Flights newsletter, as telling CNN: “It is perhaps the most innovative move by a country’s tourism board since Iceland’s ‘free stopover en route to Europe’ programme. Most tourism boards focus solely on glitzy ad campaigns and Photoshopped spreads, but this campaign from Maldives is both new and unique.”
The Controller General of Maldives Immigration Mohamed Ahmed-Hanafy, in a tweet thanked Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih and others for their support to launch the program. “Team work makes the dream work,” Hanafy tweeted.
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Tourism is one of the main revenue generators of the island nation and accounts for nearly two-thirds of its GDP. Maldives GDP is expected to contract by 8.5% in 2020 due to the pandemic, a World Bank report said. The Maldives was one of the first countries to reopen its borders during the Covid-19 pandemic on July 15, having closed them on March 27.
It currently requires all tourists and short term visitors to present a negative PCR test for Covid-19 on arrival. The test and negative PCR certificate must be issued no more than 72 hours prior to departure. Passengers are screened on arrival, and any suspected virus case is quarantined in designated facilities.
