More than 81,000 tourists were welcomed by the Maldives by Monday, since the new year began.

This was revealed by the Ministry of Tourism in its latest daily statistics, publicized on Monday.

As such, the ministry’s figures reveal that Maldives welcomed a total of 81,772 tourists between January 1 – 15.

According to the ministry, this is an increase of 21.8 percent from the 67,158 arrivals recorded in the same period last year, and a significant increase from the 43,648 arrivals recorded in 2021.

The highest daily arrivals so far this month was recorded on January 3, when more than 6,400 visitors were welcomed at Velana International Airport (VIA).

The daily average for the newly commenced year is at 5,451 and tourists are staying in the Maldives for an average of eight days.

The statistics go on to reveal that Russia has topped the source market for the archipelago nation’s tourism, contributing 16.3 percent of the market share with 13,361 arrivals recorded from the country so far.

Second comes Italy, contributing 11.2 percent with 9,131 arrivals.

Coming in third is neighboring India contributing 9.2 percent with 7,541 arrivals.

2022 ended with the neighboring country as the top source market for Maldives tourism.

Statistics go on to reveal that 1,212 tourist accommodations are currently operational across the Maldives with 59,734 beds in use.

These include 168 resorts, 13 hotels, 874 guesthouses and 157 safari vessels.

Guesthouses are in service across 117 islands spanning 20 atolls, with hotels operational in seven islands of eight atolls.

The archipelago nation welcomed its first tourist visitor of the new year with a special ceremony held at Velana International Airport (VIA) for Nikolai Stratichuk from Russia, who arrived with his family on his first-ever visit to Maldives.

Due to the numerous safety precautions implemented in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, alongside border closure, 2020 was a sluggish year for Maldives tourism. Tourist arrivals began to bounce back with the easing of travel restrictions as well as safety measures against Covid-19 in 2021.

During 2020, Maldives recorded 555,494 tourist arrivals, which was a drastic plunge from the previous year’s 1,702,887 arrivals. Maldives met its tourist arrival target for 2021 in late December and welcomed a total of 1,321,932 tourists by the end of the year.

In 2022, Maldives welcomed 1,675,285 tourists. President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih in his presidential address on 3 February 2022, revealed that Maldives aimed to welcome 1.6 million tourists in 2022.  The island nation reached its target with the combined efforts of relevant government agencies, the private sector, and industry stakeholders.

The golden jubilee year of tourism holds a record of milestones related to the tourism sector. As such, Maldives has been crowned the World’s Leading Destination three times in a row.

Minister of Tourism, Dr. Abdulla Mausoom notes that this quick rebound of Maldives tourism to pre-pandemic level is a clear indication of the visionary leadership of President Solih, sound tourism policies and the strong partnership between the government and the private sector.

It has been 50 years since zealous travelers have been visiting the Maldives which has been drawing in visitors with its picturesque beauty for years.

Tourism was introduced in the Maldives in 1972.