With tourism progressing at a fast rate over recent weeks, tourist arrivals so far in August have exceeded 38,000.

According to the latest figures publicized by the Ministry of Tourism, a total of 38,779 visitors were welcomed at Velana International Airport (VIA) between August 1 – 8.

The ongoing month began with over 5,000 arrivals as well. As such, 5,424 tourists were welcomed on 1 August, 4,165 on 2 August followed by 4,358 on 3 August. Wednesday saw 4,629 arrivals, which rose to 5,205 the following day. Arrival numbers dropped to 3,751 on Friday and escalated to 6,083 on Saturday.

On Sunday Maldives welcomed 5,164 visitors.

An average of 4,699 visitors are arriving in the Maldives daily, with their stay period recorded at an average of 9.9 days.

August’s arrivals so far are an increase of 1,957.2 percent in comparison to the 1,885 arrivals recorded during the same period last year. However, it is a 0.9 percent drop in comparison to the figures of 2019.

A total of 651,146 tourists have been welcomed in the Maldives between January 1 – August 8.

Of the over 651,000 arrivals recorded so far this year, 92,103 tourist arrivals were recorded during January and 96,882 visitors were welcomed during February. Arrivals in March were the highest recorded on a monthly basis since borders were reopened for international travel on 15 July 2020. In April Maldives welcomed 91,200 arrivals, followed by 64,613 visitors in May. The number dropped to 56,166 during the month that followed, which the ministry believed to be linked to the restrictions and precautionary measures implemented in the face of a worsening Covid-19 situation as a fourth and more infectious wave was confirmed in early May.

July saw 101,818 visitors welcomed at Velana International Airport, which is a significant increase from the 1,752 arrivals recorded during July 2020. This is the second highest figure recorded so far in 2021.

Tourist arrivals recorded so far this year are an increase of 68.5 percent in comparison to the same period last year. It is however, a 37 percent plunge in comparison to the over one million arrivals of 2019, a groundbreaking year for Maldives tourism.

With arrivals from India, the top source market recorded by the Maldives since border reopening, declining due to the worsening Covid-19 situation in the country, Russia currently dominates the arrival market contributing 22.8 percent. Russia was ranked sixth before the Covid-19 pandemic started sweeping across the globe.

Russia is followed closely by India making up 17.6 percent. Third comes Germany contributing 5.6 percent.

United States, Ukraine, Saudi Arabia, Kazakhstan, United Kingdom, Spain and France are also considered some of the biggest tourist markets for the Maldives.

Authorities halted issuing on arrival visas to travelers from South Asia in May. This was resumed on July 15 as announced by President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.

Tourist arrivals have begun to bounce back with the easing of travel restrictions as well as safety measures against Covid-19, with Minister of Tourism Dr. Abdulla Mausoom even revealing that India is expected to be the country’s top source market by the end of the year, despite a drastic drop in arrivals from the neighboring country.

During 2020, Maldives recorded 555,494 tourist arrivals, which was a drastic plunge from the previous year’s 1,702,887 arrivals.

Maldives aims to welcome 1.3 million tourist arrivals this ongoing year and is gearing up to mark 50 years since the tourism industry’s inception, in 2022, which is to be celebrated as the golden year of tourism in Maldives.