Maldives sees tourists’ duration of stay grow to 8 days

The average duration of stay of tourists in the Maldives has increased to eight days – in a first in over a year.

According to the daily updates released by the Tourism Ministry on Monday, the average duration of stay currently stands at 8.1 days.

The figure had stood at 8 days at the start of 2023, but had dropped to an average 7.6 days after February 2023.

The lack of growth in the duration of stay of tourists, despite the growth in arrivals, had previously been raised as a point of concern by tourism institutions.

The top source market for tourist arrivals to Maldives is China, with 60,699 visitors as of Sunday, March 17. Russia is placed second with 52,385 arrivals, while Italy is third, with 49,480 arrivals.

India, which had been the top source market last year, has slipped to sixth place with 31,028.

Maldives was crowned the World’s Leading Destination for the fourth year running at the 2023 World Travel Awards.

It recorded 1.8 million arrivals last year, and is eying a record 2 million visitors this year.