India takes over as top source market for tourist arrivals to Maldives

Neighboring India is back on top of the list of biggest source markets for tourist arrivals to Maldives.

India had not been among the top ten source markets when 2022 began, but made its way back on the list close to the end of January. Russia had been on top, followed by the United Kingdom, and then India.

However, tourist arrivals from Russia took a major hit when the country’s national airline Aeroflot suspended flights to Maldives in March, following an escalation in the Russia-Ukraine war. The airline resumed operations to Maldives last weekend.

At the beginning of April, UK rose to the top of the list, while Russia fell to second place, and India remained in third place.

India climbed to second place at the end of April, pushing Russia to third.

Daily updates released by the Tourism Ministry on Tuesday shows India is now the top source market for tourist arrivals to Maldives, making for 13 percent of total arrivals.

TOP SOURCE MARKETS

• India: 13 percent
• UK: 12.6 percent
• Russia: 9.6 percent
• Germany: 8.6 percent
• Italy: 6.7 percent
• USA: 4.6 percent
• France: 4.2 percent
• Switzerland: 2.6 percent
• Saudi Arabia: 2.1 percent
• Austria: 1.9 percent

Maldives has recorded 647,945 tourist arrivals as of May 16. This includes 62,628 arrivals in the first two weeks of May – marking the best post-pandemic performance.

The average daily arrivals in May stands at 4,447, and the average duration of stay at 7.2 days.