Tourist arrivals rise above 200,000; 44% increase compared to ‘21

Tourist arrivals to Maldives so far this year have risen above 200,000 – marking a significant improvement in arrivals compared to the same period last year.

Statistics released by Tourism Ministry show 201,126 tourists have visited Maldives as of February 14. The figure is a 44.8 percent increase compared to the same period last year.

Maldives has seen a daily average of 4,469 tourist arrivals this year. The average duration of stay is nine days.

69,362 tourist arrivals were recorded in the first two weeks of February alone.

The highest number of daily arrivals was recorded on February 12, with 7,668 arrivals.

The top source market for tourist arrivals so far this year is Russia, followed by United Kingdom and India.

TOP 10 SOURCE MARKETS:

• Russia: 15.9 percent of market share
• United Kingdom: 11.5 percent of market share
• India: 8.4 percent of market share
• Germany: 7.6 percent of market share
• Italy: 7.1 percent of market share
• France: 4.6 percent of market share
• United States: 3.8 percent of market share
• Ukraine: 3.4 percent of market share
• Austria: 2.4 percent of market share
• Switzerland: 2.2 percent of market share

Maldives, which enjoyed 1.7 million tourist arrivals in 2019, had been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic - recording only 555,494 arrivals in 2020. However, the sector is rebounding faster that initially projected, and the country ended 2021 with 1.3 million tourist arrivals, and with the title of World’s Leading Destination at the World Travel Awards for the second year in the running.