The tourist arrival figure recorded so far in September, has seen a growth of 8.6 percent compared to the same period last year.

This was revealed by the Ministry of Tourism through its latest weekly tourist arrival statistics publicized on Saturday.

Between September 1 – 13, Maldives recorded 51,950 tourist arrivals.

The ministry’s statistics indicate that the arrival figure for the ongoing month is an 8.6 percent surge compared to the 47,819 arrivals recorded in the same period last year.

However, it is lower than the 53,802 arrivals recorded in the same period of 2021.

The highest daily arrivals so far, this ongoing month, was recorded on September 10, with a little over 4,600 arrivals.

The daily average for September is 3,996 and tourists are staying for an average of seven days.

Statistics go on to reveal that since the new year began, a total of 1,282,031 tourists have touched down in the archipelago nation.

Monthly figures show that 172,499 tourists were welcomed during January, 177,915 in February, 173,514 in March, 164,357 in April, 120,959 in May, 120,363 during June, 145,629 in July and 154,854 in August. Although the figures dropped in May and June, they were still higher than 100,000 arrivals.

This year’s arrival figure is an increase of 13.8 percent from the 1,126,462 arrivals recorded in the same period last year, and a significant growth from the 809,768 arrivals recorded in 2021.

The daily average for 2023 is at 5,008 and tourists are staying in the Maldives for an average of seven days.

Maldives welcomed its one millionth tourist of the ongoing year on July 16, with the arrival of a Russian national who resides in the United Kingdom, who arrived on vacation with his spouse and toddler.

Statistics go on to reveal that although India topped the tourist markets for Maldives halfway through the year, it has since been replaced by Russia once more. 2022 ended with the neighboring country as the top source market for Maldives tourism.

The neighboring country overtook Russia throughout June, which was the frontrunner among the tourism markets with the highest number of tourist arrivals into the first few months of the year.

Russia contributes 11.7 percent of the market share with 149,955 arrivals recorded from the country as of September 13, while India has toppled to the second spot with 141,010 arrivals, which makes up 11 percent of the arrivals.

China comes third contributing 10.1 percent with 128,858 arrivals.

Maldives is expected to record 1.9 million tourist arrivals by year-end.

The government launched its fifth tourism master plan which places high priority in achieving the target noted including increasing bed nights. The tourism master plan carries the purpose of developing the tourism sector and increasing services provided to tourists by the country.

The government also plans to expand tourism across the scatter of islands comprising the Maldives.

In his presidential address this year, President Solih stated that the Maldives will be welcoming 3.5 million tourists annually, by 2028.

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.