Tourism Minister Dr. Abdullah Mausoom says the Maldives could still attract 120,000 tourists by the end of this year.

Speaking on Raaje TV’s fala suruhee program, Dr. Mausoom said that he believed that 120,000 tourists would arrive in the Maldives within the rest of the year. He said that he expected 6000 tourists to land in the Maldives this month alone.

He added that tourists would stay for 14 days on their visit to the country.

The Minister said although there were several obstacles in conducting PCR COVID-19 tests for departing tourists, the authorities were working to overcome those.

Noting the difficulties currently faced by the tourism sector, Dr. Mausoom said that the delay in resuming guest house businesses is a grave concern.

He highlighted that the guest house business is an important part of the tourism sector and hoped that a date to resume the business would be set soon.

Meanwhile, the government oversight committee of the parliament has recommended that Minister Dr. Mausoom retake his oath of office.

This comes after the parliament floor delayed giving backing to the Minister and send his name back to the committee after it was revealed that he had the post of managing director of a local business when he took the oath earlier this month.