Tourist arrival figure of the year reaches 1.6 million

The Maldives has welcomed 1,561,197 tourists by 08 November 2023.

This was disclosed by the Ministry of Tourism via their latest tourism updates statistics publicized on 09 November 2023.

Statistics shows that this is a 12.8 percent increase compared to the 1,383,591 welcomed into the Maldives by 08 November 2022.

In 2021, Maldives welcomed 1,051,593 tourists, between 01 January to 08 November.

So far this year, Maldives has welcomed 172,499 tourists in January, 177,915 in February, 173,514 in March, 164,357 in April, 120,959 in May, 120,363 in June, 145,629 in July, 154,854 in August, 130,967 in September and 159,141 in October.

Between November 01 – 08, Maldives has welcomed 41,008 tourists.

So far in November, the arrival figure is a 4.5 percent surge compared to the 39,225 arrivals recorded in the same period last year.

While the daily average of tourist arrivals for the year is at 5,004, the daily average of tourist arrivals of November is 5,126.

So far in the year, tourists are staying in the Maldives for an average of seven days.

Maldives hit its one millionth tourist arrival of the ongoing year on July 16.

Statistics show that Maldives is inching closer to its tourist arrival target for the promising year. Maldives is expected to record 1.9 million tourist arrivals by year-end. It was earlier estimated that 1.81 million tourist arrivals would be recorded.

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

Daily figures reveal that Russia continues to top the tourist arrival markets contributing 11.5 percent of the market share with 180,001 arrivals by November 08.

Although India topped the tourist markets for Maldives halfway through the year, it was replaced by Russia recently. 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.

India is on the second spot with 168,070 arrivals which makes up 10.8 percent of the arrivals.

China comes third contributing 10.7 percent with 166,437 arrivals.

Dr. Abdulla Mausoom, the Minister of Tourism, had earlier voiced hope that the goal of 1.9 million visitors for the final year would be met.

Highlighting that it was earlier estimated that 14 million bed nights would be observed in 2023 based on the current predictions, Minister Mausoom noted that although this figure is 1.7 million more than the previous year, they still remain hopeful to achieve the target.

Additionally, the Ministry of Finance's projections for tourism this year have also been optimistic.

As such, it is anticipated that tourism will grow rapidly in 2023, surpassing pre-pandemic levels, and that arrivals and bed nights will rise in all three scenarios.