Dhiggaru ready to welcome 5 visitors as Maldives launches homestay tourism

Dhiggaru, an inhabited island in M. Atoll, is ready to welcome five visitors later Saturday, as Maldives expands its award-winning tourism sector with homestay tourism. 

Dhiggaru, an island which does not have a single guesthouse, has prepared a house ‘Moorithi’, to accommodate homestay tourists. 

While Dhiggaru itself may not have a single guesthouse, the island’s youth are employed in various fields in the tourism sector, equipping the island with the necessary knowhow to accommodate tourists. 

Tourism Ministry said last December that it selected the island for the launch of homestay tourism due to the exemplary hospitality the island’s residents offer. 

Dhiggaru Council’s president Ahmed Nisham told Sun the island expects the first of the tourists to arrive at approximately 04:00 pm Saturday. 

“We will hold a special item on board boats when they enter the harbor channel. They will also be greeted to a water salute,” he said. 

Nisham said the tourists will check-in to their rooms after a special ceremony held in their honor. 

The tourists will also attend a special dinner with the traditional boduberu on Dhiggaru beach on Saturday evening. 

Dhiggaru Council member Ismail Mahid told Sun that the island expects five visitors on Saturday; an American couple, a Sudanese couple, and “a special guest”. 

They will stay in Dhiggaru two nights. 

Dhiggaru Council described the launch of homestay tourism in Maldives from the island as a matter of great honor to the island’s residents, especially the youth.