The Maldives Plans to Offer COVID-19 Vaccines to Tourists

[spoon]

https://www.cntraveler.com/story/the-maldives-plans-to-offer-covid-19-vaccines-to-tourists/amp

Kudos to Maldives for this effort. Id say they are doing great with how to ensure tourist are safe to travel there and have kept their island open for tourist without quarantine for a while already. 

[anddy]

Yup, great idea. As always the devil is in the detail though. The question is, for who exactly can this work in the current environment in the Maldives? Only for long-term guests, like people who stay there and work from the beach. That is because from an article about this I read elsewhere it was clear that currently the Maldives have only 2-shot vaccines. So if you're planning to stay for 2 or 3 weeks, that's no good. Where are you gonna get the second shot? So either stay long enough or Maldives eed to get 1-shot vaccines.

[spoon]

I do hope they will get the one dose vaccine, otherwise, like u mention, itll be only for long term visitor. Itll be a draw for those in countries with less efficient vaccination plan as well, as they can kill two birds with one stone, travel to a beach island, and get vaccinated all in one go. 

[anddy]

Yup though the criticism is also reported in the article. It is understandable that the WHO and others oppose this scheme as it takes vaccines away from needier people. But then again, I'd say the numbers are small and it's not just benefitting the few rich people going for that vaccine vacation but also the local people in this heavily tourism reliant country. The "needier people" argument, while true, only considers global health aspects, not the immense economic side-effect of the pandemic

[spoon]

Yup, my thought exactly. WHO must do their job to point that out but recovery of local economy is something that is equally important to their health as well. We see this already in several countries where despite high cases of daily covid infection, the gov cant afford a lockdown due to economic reason. 

[PeterRS]

Has anyone been to the Maldives recently? That article sounds great but it fails to make any mention of price. A long stay would only be possible for the very rich and mega rich. The Maldives is one of the most expensive vacation spots anywhere. Discount the relatively few airbnb homes and the handful of cheaper islands (relatively speaking again) each of which accommodates only a tiny number of tourists, the remainder of the 100 or so resort islands cost from around US$250 to US$2,000 per night and upwards. That's just for starters. Food and drink are are also far more expensive. That's not only because it all has to be imported. Many of the staff are also imported. Unless the policy has changed since I was there, the Maldives government does not permit most of its people to work in the resorts. It does not want their strict adherence to Islam to be corrupted by hedonistic holidaymakers. Many staff came from Sri Lanka.

The website budgetyourtrip.com estimates that the average cost of two people spending a month in the Maldives would be US$14,366 before air travel. Eliminate the cheaper islands and you can think of starting closer to $25,000. One person alone will obviously be a lot less expensive, but who would want to spend a month on a beautiful tropical island alone? Forget meeting some nice cute guys on the beach. Sex with staff is a definite no-no.

[spoon]

Ive never been tk maldives but have few friends that went there on a budget trip, staying in the public islands where the locals are staying. The downside is no alcohol and the beach also restrictive on dress code. However, u can always buy day trip passes to some of the resorts to enjoy other part of the islands pristine beaches and resort facilities. I gather for those who wanted to stay there longterm will have to live on the local islands where u can rent by month instead of staying at the private island resorts unless you are in the super rich category. Not sure about prices after covid though, i assume they wouldve reduce the price as well to attract tourists.

[PeterRS]

Thanks @spoon I had not realised that in 2009 the government passed a law permitting tourists to stay on some of the non-resort islands where the local inhabitants stay. These are a great deal cheaper. The only drawback seems to be the ban on alcohol and an adherence to "Muslim values".

[Islesguy]

There were a couple of places in the Atlantic Ocean/Caribbean that were also offering vaccines to anyone.