The government of the Maldives is auctioning 16 of the more than 1000 mostly uninhabited islands. Whoever wins the contract will lease the island for 50 years, according to the Ministry of Tourism.
One condition is that the tenants build a hotel on their island with at least 100 beds each. With the auction, the Maldives want to help their tourism after the corona pandemic, a spokesman for the German press agency said on Friday.
Maldives island from 173,000 euros
A 1.2 hectare island is available from 210,000 dollars (about 173,000 euros), the 10.4 hectare version from 1.5 million dollars (about 1.2 million euros). In their projects, tenants in the sensitive ecosystem must adhere to environmental requirements – for example, the majority of them use electricity from renewable sources, and around half of the vegetation should remain safe.
Offers are possible until June 10th. However, it is not necessarily the highest bidder who will win the bid. There is a point system. 60 points are given for the highest offer, 20 points are given if at least 70 percent of the employees should be local, including at least 5 percent women, and 10 points are given for money in a government tourism fund.
According to its own information, the ministry hopes for 3700 additional beds and associated investments of 370 million dollars (around 304 million euros) in the next three years.