Arrivals top 1.5 million as Maldives’ tourism maintains robust 9.7% growth

Tourist arrivals to the Maldives have now surpassed 1.5 million, as the island destination seeks to boost annual visitor numbers this year to a record 2.3 million.

According to the latest daily update released by the Tourism Ministry, the country has welcomed 1,520,699 visitors as of Sunday, marking a 9.7 percent increase compared to the same period last year, when the island country saw 1,386,554 visitors.

The country has been welcoming an average of 6,083 visitors each day.

We have crossed 1.5 million tourist arrivals as of 8th September, moving steadily towards our target. Every visitor is part of our journey as the world’s leading destination. pic.twitter.com/FRE6nzlOJ5

— Ministry of Tourism and Environment (@MoTmv) September 8, 2025

China continues to dominate as the top source market for tourist arrivals with over 240,000 arrivals, contributing to 15.8 percent of the market share. In second place is Russia with over 182,000 visitors.

TOP SOURCE MARKETS:

• China: 240,828 visitors (15.8 percent)
• Russia: 182,315 visitors (12 percent)
• UK: 136,619 visitors (9 percent)
• Italy: 107,736 visitors (7.1 percent)
• Germany: 104,764 visitors (6.9 percent)
• India: 87,410 visitors (5.7 percent)
• USA: 44,418 visitors (2.9 percent)
• France: 41,477 visitors (2.7 percent)
• Spain: 35,463 visitors (2.3 percent)
• Australia: 27,916 visitors (1.8 percent)

According to the latest update, 73.4 percent of visitors stayed in resorts, while 21.9 percent stayed in guesthouses in local islands, 2.6 percent stayed in hotels, and 2.1 percent stayed in liveaboard vessels.

Tourist arrivals are expected to increase further once more airlines switch to the new international passenger terminal that opened at the Velana International Airport on July 26. The new terminal has the capacity to cater to 7.5 million passengers annually.

But while the island destination continues to see robust growth in tourist arrivals, the latest economic update released by the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) shows a decline in the average duration of stay.

According to information collected by the central bank, the average duration of stay by visitors declined from 7.6 days to 6.9 days by the end on June.

The Maldives welcomed a record two million tourist arrivals last year. The island destination, which won the award for the World Travel Awards (WTA) World's Leading Destination for the fifth consecutive year in 2024, expects to raise tourist arrivals to 2.3 million this year.