Tourist arrival figure sees 14.3 percent growth from last year

The arrival figure recorded so far this year has seen a 14.3 percent surge from the same period of 2023.

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

The ministry revealed that the arrival figure for this year has seen an increase of 14.3 percent from the 423,349 arrivals recorded in the same period last year, and a significant growth from the 339,611 arrivals recorded in 2022.

Since the new year began, 484,001 tourist arrivals have been recorded.

During January the country welcomed 192,385 visitors, followed by 217,392 arrivals in February.

Between March 1 – 12, a total of 74,224 tourists touched down at Velana International Airport (VIA).

The daily average for 2024 so far, is 6,722 and tourists are staying for an average of eight days.

The arrival figure for March is a 1.8 percent increase from the 72,935 arrivals recorded in the same period last year, and a significant growth from the 58,835 arrivals recorded in 2022.

The highest number of tourist arrivals recorded on a daily basis so far this year, was in February 10, when more than 10,000 tourist arrivals were recorded.

Statistics go on to indicate that while the new year began with Italy topping the tourist arrival markets of the island nation it was replaced by Russia for a few weeks and China currently sits at the top of the list, contributing 12.1 percent of the market share with 58,447 arrivals by March 12.

Russia dominated the tourist arrival markets of the Maldives by the end of 2023 and currently ranks second place in the top 10 markets, contributing 9.9 percent of the market share with 48,146 arrivals.

Italy has toppled to third spot and now contributes 9.6 percent of the market share with 46,669 arrivals recorded so far.

Although India was among the top three source markets into the beginning of the year, it was replaced by China.

Although Kazakhstan was among the top source markets, it has been replaced by Switzerland.

The first tourist visitor of the new year was welcomed during a special ceremony held at VIA in the early hours of January 1.  Welcoming the first tourist of 2024 to the Maldives, Minister of Tourism Ibrahim Faisal noted that this is a fantastic start to what promises to be another successful year for the Maldives’ tourism industry.

He expressed keen interest in diversifying and exploring additional markets to reach this year’s arrival target.

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.