The Maldives Government has on 16th November 2023 introduced the first amendments to the 2023 tourism regulation, ‘Regulation on Determination of Lagoon Boundary Areas of Places Leased for Tourism Purposes’ (Regulation No: R-90/2023) (“Boundary Regulation”) governing the various aspects of determining the lagoon boundary area of tourism properties and establishing rules on the types of development that can be carried out in these areas. The ‘First Amendment to the Regulation on Determination of Lagoon Boundary Areas of Places Leased for Tourism Purposes’ (Regulation No: R-177/2023) (“First Amendment”) is issued by the Ministry of Tourism (“MoT”) having come into force on 16th November 2023 and is aimed at addressing some of the practical issues confronted by the government in relation to the determination of ‘no development zones’ and boundary area extensions in respect of lagoons leased for tourism reclamation and development.
Categories of Tourism Properties
The First Amendment has removed the specific reference to tourist guesthouses from being considered within the definition of a tourist resort and therein a tourism property which the boundary rules apply to. Therefore, the categories of tourism properties which fall under the rules of the Boundary Regulation remain integrated tourist resorts, resort hotels, hotels, and yacht marinas.
Exemption to the ‘No Development Zone’
The First Amendment provides MoT with a discretion to determine an exemption to the ‘no development zone’ as specified under the Boundary Regulation in circumstances where either:
- Development types of work is carried out to protect the lagoon area of a tourism property from impacts of weather conditions; or
- A third party who may be leasing a designated area for a specific purpose within the lagoon boundary area of the tourism property, provides their no-objection towards any development type of work to be carried out within such ‘no development zone’.
Boundary Extensions for Lagoons
Lastly, the First Amendment introduces new rules specific to the extension of boundary areas of lagoons which are leased for tourism development. Extension applications for lagoon boundary’s may be provided in the specific circumstances identified under the First Amendment, provided that the applicable boundary extension fee is duly paid to the Maldives Inland Revenue Authority and the lagoon area so extended is specified under an amendment brought to the lagoon lease agreement.
