Tourist arrivals from India rise, making it 2nd top source market

With an increase in tourist arrivals, India has moved up rankings to become the 2^nd top source market for tourist arrivals to Maldives.

According to the statistics released by the Tourism Ministry, 5,449 Indian tourists visited Maldives between July 15 and November 19. It makes for 9.2 percent of the source markets.

Four airlines from India have resumed commercial operations to Maldives; IndiGo Air, GoAir, Air India and SpiceJet. Many of the India’s wealthy are also coming in on private jets, and Vistara is operating charters to Maldives.

Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Authority (MMPRC) is running advertisements targeting Indian tourists, and visits by Indian celebrities are serving to increase Maldives’ brand exposure.

Maldives and India established an air travel bubble in August.

India was the top source market for tourist arrivals to Maldives in 2019 with 166,030 arrivals.

Statistics released by Tourism Ministry shows over 51,000 tourists have visited Maldives since it reopened its borders, increasing total tourist arrivals this year to over 434,000. The Tourism Ministry is targeting 500,000 tourist arrivals this year.

Maldives is currently open to all tourists, provided they have proof of a negative COVID-19 PCR test taken maximum 96 hours before departure from their original destination.