Photo shows a mesmerizing and stark contrast between the red palm trees and the famed crystal clear water of the Maldives. Using an infra-red filter camera, Italian photographer Paolo Pettigiani captured the spectacular scenery of the picturesque island. Photo: VCG

Searches for trips to Maldives have doubled on major Chinese travel platforms on Friday, after the visa-waiver agreement between China and Maldives officially took effect the same day, the Global Times learned. It's a vivid display of the steady recovery of once the world's largest outbound travel market - fueled by Chinese tourists' pent-up enthusiasm and rising consumption power. 

Under the agreement, people holding a Chinese passport could travel to Maldives on a 30-day visa free basis for short-term purposes such as tourism, business, family visit, and transiting. Chinese traveling to Maldives for activities such as work, settlement and media reports should gain approval from relevant authorities in Maldives in advance and complete relevant procedures before landing in the country. 

In January 2022, China and Maldives reached agreements on visa-free travel arrangement.

As of around 11 am on Friday, searches for Maldives hotels have jumped 126 percent on online travel agency Qunar.com compared with the same period on Thursday, and searches for hotels in North Male Atoll, a hot travel spot, have ballooned over three times on the site, a spokesperson of Qunar.com told the Global Times. 

The spokesperson noted that reservation for Maldives hotels in February has doubled so far compared with January, and is expected to rise further as Chinese travelers' enthusiasm was further spurred by the implementation of the visa waiver policy. 

On another travel platform Trip.com Group, formerly known as Ctrip, views on Maldives as a travel destination also gained 200 percent in half an hour, immediately after the visa exemption deal was announced, according to a statement Trip.com sent to the Global Times.

Data from Trip.com also showed that bookings for Maldives-related products have increased by 50 percent month-on-month from February 6. Maldives was also among the top five outbound travel destinations on the platform in terms of reservation for group tour and self-guided tour products.

China resumed outbound group travel to 20 countries on February 6 after a hiatus of more than 1,000 days. Maldives is among the first batch of pilot countries for group tours. 

On January 18, the first direct flight between China and Maldives after the optimization of COVID response took off from Beijing and arrived at Velana International Airport in Maldives. The local tourism bureau welcomed Chinese tourists with watergate ceremony, flowers and performance. To date, both Beijing and Shanghai have resumed direct flights with Maldives.

China had been Maldives' largest source of tourists before the outbreak of the pandemic. In 2019, a total of 300,000 Chinese travelled to Maldives, accounting for 17 percent of the foreign tourists the country received that year.