Travellers around the world are invited to join a virtual journey on Monday to rediscover the memories of the beautiful islands of the Maldives, as the Indian Ocean tourist paradise prepares to reopen its borders to visitors.

The ‘Maldives, the sun will shine again’ Facebook live event aims to tell the world that the Maldives is slowly but surely on the road to recovery and is getting ready to start welcoming visitors again.

The three-hour live feed will let participants “re-live the Maldives dream” from the comfort of their home. They will be virtually transported to some of the very best locations in the Maldives and be told of “how we are preparing as we await your return”.

Well-wishers from around the world, including celebrities, key opinion leaders, influencers, artists and fans of Maldives, will join officials from the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) at the event.

Local musicians and artists will also come together to show their love, sentiments, wishes, memories and messages to “remind that indeed the sun will shine again” in the Maldives.

During the event, lucky winners will get over two dozen free holiday packages offered by the luxury resorts in the archipelago.

The Maldives is preparing to reopen its borders to visitors in July.

The coronavirus outbreak has hit the Maldivian economy hard, as travel restrictions and other preventive measures affect the country’s lucrative tourism industry, which contributes the bulk of the island nation’s state revenue and foreign reserves.

Before the pandemic, the government had been bullish about tourism prospects, targeting two million, high-spending holidaymakers this year after last year’s record 1.7 million.

However, tourist arrivals saw a year-over-year decline of 22.8 per cent in the first 10 days of March. Officials say the number of tourist arrivals to the Maldives could drop by half in 2020.

All international airlines have suspended scheduled operations to the Maldives, as the island nation enforced a blanket suspension of on-arrival visa in late March in a bid to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus.

With arrival numbers falling and the visa suspension in effect, several resorts across the Maldives had been closed.

Tourism has been the bedrock of the Maldives’ economic success. The $5 billion-dollar economy grew by 6.7 per cent in 2018 with tourism generating 60 per cent of foreign income.

However, the government is at present projecting a possible 13 per cent economic contraction this year — an estimated $778 million hit.

On March 8, Maldives reported its first cases of the novel coronavirus, as two hotel employees tested positive for Covid-19 at a luxury resort in the archipelago.

Eighteen more cases — all foreigners working or staying resorts and liveaboard vessels except five Maldivians who had returned from abroad — were later identified.

A six-case cluster of locals, detected in capital Male on April 15, confirmed community transmission of the coronavirus. Several more clusters have since been identified, bringing the total number of confirmed case in the Maldives to 1,903.

Eight deaths have been reported and 827 have made full recoveries.

The Maldives announced a state of public health emergency on March 12, the first such declaration under a recent public health protection law.

The public health emergency declaration has allowed the government to introduce a series of unprecedented restrictive and social distancing measures, including stay-at-home orders in capital Male and its suburbs, a ban on inter-island transport and public gatherings across the country, and a nationwide closing of government offices, schools, colleges and universities.

Non-essential services and public places in the capital such as gyms, cinemas and parks have also been shut.

Restaurants and cafes in the capital have been asked to stop dine-in service and switch to takeaway and delivery.

A nationwide shutdown of all guesthouses, city hotels and spa facilities located on inhabited islands is also in effect.

Show your love for the Maldives by being part of the Facebook live event on Monday, June 8, 2020 from 8-11pm local time (GMT +5).