The Tourism Statistics Survey 2024 has been launched.

The survey was inaugurated by the Minister of State for Climate Change, Environment and Energy, Dr. Muaviyath Mohamed, at a ceremony jointly organized by the Maldives Bureau of Statistics (MBS) and the Ministry of Climate Change, Environment and Energy on Tuesday.

Speaking at the ceremony, Dr. Muaviyath stated that the results of the survey would serve as crucial evidence in making decisions for sustainable tourism development and achieving national climate goals. He also highlighted that tourism is a key sector of the Maldivian economy, and the information gathered from the survey would further strengthen the statistics used in policy formulation.

New components added to the survey include sections aimed at collecting important energy information required for reporting under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement.

The changes to this survey were implemented under an agreement signed on 6 November 2024, between the Ministry of Climate Change, Environment and Energy, the Utility Regulatory Authority (URA), and the Maldives Bureau of Statistics (MBS) as part of the CBIT Maldives Project. The objective of the agreement is to enhance the system for collecting information needed to determine greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and to increase the accuracy of energy-related statistics required for national and international reporting.

As part of this effort, information on energy consumption in the resort sector will be collected annually through the Tourism Statistics Survey. The survey directly aims to address the information gaps identified in the Maldives' First Biennial Transparency Report (BTR1), particularly focusing on gathering data related to energy consumption and emissions in the tourism sector.

The CBIT Maldives Project is an initiative of the Ministry of Climate Change, Environment and Energy, funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF). The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) provides technical assistance in implementing the project.

The survey is expected to provide crucial information for assessing energy consumption and environmental impacts of the Maldives’ tourism industry, facilitating the identification of measures for sustainable tourism development. The results of the survey will further serve as reliable data for national and international climate change-related reporting.