The government on Tuesday gazetted new rules for foreign tourist vessels in the Maldives with significant reductions in fees charged from yachts and cruise liners.
Old regulations enacted by the previous government on September 12 were repealed after the new rules came into force.
According to the regulations, vessels and passenger liners that arrive for less than seven days would require a permit. But cruise liners would not have to seek a charter license or pay the USD 100 per day charged from tourist vessels.
However, passenger liners would have to pay a daily fee of USD 850.
The new rules came after heavy criticism of the previous ones from the yacht agent's association. The main issue raised by the association was the 16 percent T-GST (tourism goods and services tax) levied on cruise liner rooms.
Following the criticism, Tourism Minister Ibrahim Faisal said efforts were underway to revise the rules.
"We are working on amending the regulations related to cruise liners made by the previous government. God willing, I assure that the difficulties faced at present will be resolved in the near future," Faisal said on December 16.
