Will ensure

The Ministry of Tourism has said that the Maldives got an ‘A report’ in terms of tourist arrival numbers for February and March 2013, and that the ministry will ensure that the country gets an ‘A report’ over the upcoming months as well.

Deputy Minister of Tourism Mohamed Maleeh Jamaal told Sun Online that the tourist arrivals will increase over the upcoming months, and that hard work is being done to ensure this.

“If we look at the numbers for last March, we have good news. All markets have improved. So I would say that we got an ‘A report’. We will make sure that we get an ‘A report’ for upcoming months as well,” he said.

The total number of tourists that visited Maldives last month was 99,498. Tourist arrivals for the corresponding period last year was 76,469. This is an increase of 30 percent.

Tourist arrivals for last month from Europe had increased by 12 percent, Asia by 84.7 percent, and the U.S. by 42.9 percent.

Maleeh said that the reason behind this success is long-term planning by the tourism ministry. He said that despite the financial constraints, the ministry will create documentaries and attend fairs and road shows to promote tourism over the upcoming months. He said that efforts are also under way to lure celebrity tourists to Maldives, as part of the promotion campaign.