Maldives Immigration will revamp its system to prevent repeating frauds in which visitors are duped by a travel agency into travelling to the Maldives on the premise of a fraudulent booking, Immigration Controller Mohamed Ahmed Hussain said on Thursday.
Cases of visitors being lured into the country under false pretenses have recently increased, with the majority targeting Indian tourists.
Before entering the country, visitors must fill out the Maldives Immigration portal with information about where they will stay. Maldives Immigration has seen occasions when bookings for a guesthouse exceeded its capacity after they began contacting to confirm the reservation.
The Controller General of Immigration informed a local news outlet that the new changes will considerably reduce such cases. Furthermore, he stated that the new modifications would speed up the procedure and make it easier for travelers.
He further added that a large number of tourists with bogus bookings have already been returned home.
The Maldives has recently been a popular transit and quarantine destination for Indians travelling to the Middle East and Europe.