Tourist arrivals have topped 100,000 for a fourth month this ongoing year.

The Ministry of Tourism, through its latest daily statistics revealed that Maldives observed a total of 102,745 arrivals between September 1 – 26. This is a 2.5 percent increase from the arrivals recorded in the same period during 2019.

Tourist arrivals for the island nation, a popular holiday destination among zealous travelers, topped 858,711 from January 1 – September 26.

According to the daily figures, the highest daily arrivals recorded so far this month was on September 12 at 4,862. The lowest was recorded at 2,916 on September 24.

Based on the tourism ministry’s statistics, an average of 3,952 tourists are visiting the Maldives every day this concluding month, with their average stay period recorded at eight days.

As the country inches closer to its tourist arrival target of 1.3 million for the year, the ministry revealed that neighboring India remains the top source market for Maldives tourism, contributing 22.9 percent of the total arrival figure.

Of the total arrivals figure 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 at 109,585 making it the second highest figure recorded so far in 2021. 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 into the Maldives.

Maldives broke its monthly tourist arrivals records with figures topping 143,599 in August.

While Russia continued to dominate the Maldives’ tourism markets within the first few months of the year after arrivals from India started declining following the travel restrictions imposed on visitors from South Asia back in May as the Covid-19 situation in the region worsened, it currently ranks second contributing 19.8 percent of the total arrivals. Third comes Germany contributing 6.1 percent of the total arrival figure.

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

There are 883 operational tourist accommodation establishments currently, 573 of which are guesthouses, 156 are resorts, 144 are liveaboard vessels and the remaining 10 are hotels. These over 570 guesthouses are across 84 islands of 20 atolls.

Tourist arrivals have begun to bounce back with the easing of travel restrictions as well as safety measures against Covid-19. This comes at time the Honorary Consul General of Maldives in Lebanon Mohamed Fakih has congratulated the Maldives on becoming the best tourist destination for safety and health.

Maldives 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.

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