Maldives closes down on tourist arrival target

The number of tourist arrivals to the Maldives since the nation reopened has exceeded 37,000.

The Maldives officially reopened its borders on July 15, after a four-month border closure due to COVID-19. Statistics by the Tourism Ministry of the nation show that it had received a total of 37,468 tourists since then. 

The total number of tourist arrivals to the Maldives in 2020 has now reached 420,315. This is exponentially closer to the targeted figure of 500,000 tourist arrivals of the government.

Since the border reopening, Russian tourists have been observed highest in terms of arrivals. 

Tourist arrival figures by nation:

• Russian: 7,507
• UAE: 3,479
• USA: 3,056
• UK: 2,923
• France: 1,601

Other than these five nations, German, Spanish, Indian, and Ukrainian tourists have also arrived in large numbers to the Maldives. The average number of tourist arrivals since July have also grown per day. 

In July, an average of 117 tourists was recorded per day, while in August the figure was recorded at 246. In September 318 tourists were recorded per day while so far in October, 620 tourists have been recorded per day.

Before the border closure, the Maldives had received 382,760 tourists in total which is an average of 4,206 per day. Since the tourist season is just beginning, it is expected that the arrival figures will rise significantly in the next two months. Furthermore, five more airlines are also prepping to restart operations to the Maldives to coincide with the peak season. They are Gulf Air, GoAir, Spice Jet, Nordwind, and Azur Air.