The tourist arrival figure for the ongoing year has surpassed the 555,000-mark.

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

As such, ministry statistics reveal that Maldives has welcomed a total of 555,537 visitors since the new year began.

This includes 172,499 tourists welcomed during January and 177,914 tourists welcomed in the following month. In March Maldives recorded 173,514 tourist arrivals.

According to the ministry, this year’s arrival figure is an increase of 21.6 percent from the 457,005 arrivals recorded in the same period last year, and a significant increase from the 319,110 arrivals recorded in 2021.

The daily average for this year is at 5,848 and tourists are staying in the Maldives for an average of eight days.

Between April 1 – 5, Maldives recorded a total of 31,609 tourist arrivals which is 24 percent higher than the 25,481 arrivals recorded in the same period last year and much higher than the 20,540 arrivals recorded in the same period of 2021.

So far this month, the highest daily arrivals were recorded on April 2, when more than 7,300 visitors were welcomed.

Russia continues to top the Maldives tourist arrival markets, as the third month of the year has ended. 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.

As such, the statistics revealed that Russia continues to top the source markets for the archipelago nation’s tourism, contributing 12.3 percent of the market share with 68,102 arrivals recorded from the country by April 5.

Although the country ranked third since the beginning of the year, India has climbed up to the second position contributing 10.6 percent with 58,859 arrivals. 2022 ended with the neighboring country as the top source market for Maldives tourism.

Coming in third is the United Kingdom contributing 9.9 percent with 55,093 arrivals.

Although Poland was among the top source markets of Maldives tourism last week, the country has been replaced by Austria since.

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. However, 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 held a record of milestones related to the tourism sector. As such, Maldives was crowned the World’s Leading Destination three times in a row last year.

Minister of Tourism, Dr. Abdulla Mausoom noted 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.

In his presidential address this year, delivered at the People’s Majlis on 6 February 2023, President Solih stated that the Maldives will be welcoming 3.5 million tourists, annually, by 2028.

Describing the past three years as the most challenging years the Maldivian economy has faced, he noted that the Covid-19 pandemic brought a complete halt to the Maldivian economy.

Highlighting that the Maldives will be welcoming 3.5 million tourists annually by 2028, President Solih stated that this will be the result of all the commenced, ongoing, and completed developmental projects of the administration.

Tourism was introduced in the Maldives in 1972. 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.