More than 200,000 arrivals recorded in February

More than 200,000 tourists have been welcomed during February.

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

As such, the ministry’s latest figures show that between February 1 – 26, 200,371 visitors were recorded, marking a 1.2 percent surge from the 200,004 arrivals recorded in the same period of 2024. It is a lot higher than the 166,762 arrivals recorded in 2023.

According to the ministry, 214,863 tourist arrivals were recorded between January 1 – 31.

This was an 11.7 percent surge in comparison to the 192,385 arrivals recorded in the same period last year and much higher than the 172,499 arrivals recorded in the same period of 2023.

About 6,931 tourists arrived on average every day during January and 7,784 tourists are arriving on average every day during February.

In total, 417,234 tourists have arrived in the Maldives so far this year. This is a 6.3 percent surge in comparison to the 392,389 arrivals recorded in 2024 and much higher than the 339,261 arrivals recorded in 2023.

288,130 out of the 417,234 visitors that were recorded by Thursday stayed at resorts. This makes up 69.1 percent. 107,471 tourists make up 25.8 percent of the tourists who stayed at guesthouses, 11,454 tourists make up 2.7 percent of the tourists who stayed at hotels, 9,904 tourists make up 2.4 percent of the tourists who stayed at liveaboard vessels and 274 who stayed at other facilities during this period.

Looking at the daily arrivals for February 2025:

• 9,495 tourists were welcomed on February 1
• 9,098 tourists were welcomed on February 2
• 7,206 tourists were welcomed on February 3
• 7,882 tourists were welcomed on February 4
• 7,359 tourists were welcomed on February 5
• 7,173 tourists were welcomed on February 6
• 7,630 tourists were welcomed on February 7
• 9,209 tourists were welcomed on February 8
• 8,883 tourists were welcomed on February 9
• 6,964 tourists were welcomed on February 10
• 7,685 tourists were welcomed on February 11
• 7,050 tourists were welcomed on February 12
• 6,946 tourists were welcomed on February 13
• 7,834 tourists were welcomed on February 14
• 9,421 tourists were welcomed on February 15
• 9,518 tourists were welcomed on February 16
• 7,274 tourists were welcomed on February 17
• 7,509 tourists were welcomed on February 18
• 6,830 tourists were welcomed on February 19
• 6,676 tourists were welcomed on February 20
• 7,963 tourists were welcomed on February 21
• 8,755 tourists were welcomed on February 22
• 8,668 tourists were welcomed on February 23
• 6,585 tourists were welcomed on February 24
• 6,814 tourists were welcomed on February 25
• 3,944 tourists were welcomed on February 26

Further, the ministry revealed that China has remained the leader in tourist arrivals to the Maldives with no signs of slowing down, dominating the top source markets for the second consecutive month of the year.

As such, the ministry’s statistics revealed that although Russia topped the tourist source markets into the third week of January, it was replaced by China into the last week of January.

China has topped the leading source of tourists since then. The ministry’s figures revealed that as 2025 commenced Russia topped the tourist source markets, however, it has since been replaced by China, contributing 13.8 percent of the market share with 57,569 arrivals.

China sat at the top of the list of tourist source markets by the end of 2024 as well. 2024 began with Italy topping the tourist arrival markets of the island nation; however, it was replaced by Russia for a few weeks and then by China for the remainder of the year.

Although Italy ranked second place for a few weeks since the new year began, Russia now sits at second place on the list. Russia ranks second place contributing 9.9 percent of the market share with 41,264 arrivals recorded by Thursday.

UK comes third contributing 9.8 percent of the market share with 40,846 arrivals.

Other top tourist markets in 2025 include:

• Italy contributing 9.1 percent with 37,868 arrivals
• Germany contributing 6.1 percent with 25,461 arrivals
• India contributing 4.7 percent with 19,713 arrivals
• France contributing 4.2 percent with 17,352 arrivals
• United States contributing three percent with 12,619 arrivals
• Poland contributing 2.3 percent with 9,669 arrivals
• Switzerland contributing 2.1 percent with 8,720 arrivals

Although Austria topped the tourist source markets by the end of January, it has since been replaced by Switzerland on the list of top 10 markets.

Maldives welcomed 2,046,615 visitors in 2024. In 2023, 1,878,543 tourist arrivals were recorded.

A true jewel of the Indian Ocean, Maldives has been dazzling among passionate travelers since tourism was introduced in the Maldives in 1972. It is going to be 53 years since the island paradise has been enchanting travelers from around the globe with its unrivaled hospitality and picturesque beauty.