At the start of the year, Maldivian president Ibrahim Mohamed Solih set
out an ambitious goal of 1.6 million tourists as the country marks 50
years of tourism. Now with 900,808 visitor arrivals clocked only within
seven months, it seems that the country is likely to surpass the
projected figure this year.
Between
1 January to 20 July, the number of visitor arrivals have increased by
57.3% from the same period last year. This signifies that Maldives is
inching towards a full recovery, with only a 4.8% decline compared to
2019 numbers.
The Ministry of Tourism revealed the month-on-month visitor figures:
• January — 131,764 tourists
• February — 149,008 tourists
• March — 150,739 tourists
• April — 145,280 tourists
• May — 125,522 tourists
• June — 110,889 tourists
• July — 87,597 tourists (recorded up to 20 July)
The ministry further shared that tourists spend an average of eight
days in the Maldives, with daily arrivals being maintained at an average
of 4,482.
India has emerged as Maldives' top tourism market, contributing to
132,151 arrivals, 14.7% of its total visitor count thus far. The second
are travellers from the UK, contributing 11.6% with 104,667 arrivals.
Being one of the few countries still open to Russian travellers, Russia comes in third, contributing 10.5% with 94,151 arrivals.