In the list of 30 safe countries by World Travel and Tourism Council, Maldives is excluded which poses a million-dollar question, on how safe the internationally renowned island nation is for traveling.
The aspect every traveler looks for in a country now, when boarders are slowly re-opened is the safety of the place. It is without a doubt, the topmost concern, and with the rapid spread, and simultaneous changes in positive cases, it is no longer easy to distinguish which countries are safe and which are not.
In light of this, World Travel and Tourism Council, commenced certifying countries to help travelers determine the green zones, by checking if the country is certified with a ‘Safe Travel’ stamp.
The countries that reopened its borders are eligible for the Safe Travel stamp, once they fully exercise the global standardized health and hygiene protocols based on the guidelines by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Sectors such as hotels, restaurants, airlines, cruise lines, tour operators, attractions and parks, airports, outdoor shopping, transportation companies and many more are considered while certifying the countries with a ‘Safe Travel’ stamp. Until now, 30 countries have taken a spot on the list with its safe stamp.
These countries are:
- Sri Lanka and Indonesia from Asia
- Jordan, Saudi Arabia and UAE from the Middle East
- Egypt, Kenya, Mauritius, Rwanda, Tanzania, Tunisia, and South Africa from Africa.
- Portugal, Bulgaria, Turkey, Croatia, Slovenia, Ukraine, Spain, and Russia from Europe.
- Aruba, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, Ecuador from America.
- Australia.
The Maldives is not seen in the list of ‘Safe Travel’ stamped countries. Reportedly, the COVID-19 cases in the Maldives have reached over 3000. This is a huge number when compared to the total population of 516,000 people in the country. The latest updates reveal that a 24th person has died fighting COVID-19.
