71 percent of tourists flock to resorts

With 71 percent of tourists heading straight to the Maldives' luxury resorts, the island nation continues to solidify its reputation as a top destination for high-end travel.

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

As such, the ministry’s statistics show that 648,315 visitors have opted for the luxury of resorts so far. This makes up 71.1 percent of the total arrivals. 213,620 tourists make up 23.4 percent of the tourists who stayed at guesthouses, 26,947 tourists make up three percent of the tourists who stayed at hotels, 22,640 tourists make up 2.5 percent of the tourists who stayed at liveaboard vessels and 588 who stayed at other facilities during this period.

The ministry’s statistics go on to reveal that between January 1 and May 17, 912,109 tourists arrived in the Maldives. This is an 8.2 percent surge in comparison to the 843,356 arrivals recorded in 2024 and much higher than the 757,992 arrivals recorded in 2023.

Between May 1 – 17, 81,365 tourists were welcomed at Velana International Airport (VIA). This is a 14.6 percent increase from the 70,986 arrivals recorded in the same period of 2024 and much higher than the 69,707 arrivals recorded the previous year.

On a monthly basis:

• 214,863 tourist arrivals were recorded between January 1 – 31.
• 214,091 tourist arrivals were recorded between February 1 – 28.
• 203,464 tourist arrivals were recorded between March 1 – 31.
• 198,322 tourist arrivals were recorded between April 1 – 30.

The statistics go on to reveal that about 6,931 tourists arrived on average every day during January, 7,646 in February, 6,563 in March and 6,611 tourists arrived on average during April. 4,786 tourists are arriving on average every day during May.

Looking at the daily arrivals for May 2025:

• 7,349 tourists were welcomed on May 1
• 7,263 tourists were welcomed on May 2
• 6,179 tourists were welcomed on May 3
• 5,467 tourists were welcomed on May 4
• 4,740 tourists were welcomed on May 5
• 4,720 tourists were welcomed on May 6
• 4,517 tourists were welcomed on May 7
• 4,134 tourists were welcomed on May 8
• 4,877 tourists were welcomed on May 9
• 4,812 tourists were welcomed on May 10
• 4,342 tourists were welcomed on May 11
• 4,431 tourists were welcomed on May 12
• 3,869 tourists were welcomed on May 13
• 3,766 tourists were welcomed on May 14
• 3,391 tourists were welcomed on May 15
• 3,941 tourists were welcomed on May 16
• 3,567 tourists were welcomed on May 17

Further, statistics revealed that China has remained the leader in tourist arrivals to the Maldives with no signs of slowing down, dominating the top source markets by the fifth 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. China contributes 11.5 percent of the market share with 105,191 arrivals.

China sat at the top of the list of tourist source markets by the end of 2024 as well.

Russia sits at second place on the list contributing 10.8 percent of the market share with 98,419 arrivals recorded by Sunday.

The United Kingdom comes third contributing 10.3 percent of the market share with 93,853 arrivals.

Other top tourist markets in 2025 include:

• Italy contributing 8.7 percent with 79,737 arrivals
• Germany contributing 7.7 percent with 70,011 arrivals
• India contributing 5.5 percent with 49,721 arrivals
• France contributing 3.7 percent with 33,345 arrivals
• United States contributing 3.1 percent with 28,656 arrivals
• Switzerland contributing 2.3 percent with 21,328 arrivals
• Poland contributing 1.8 percent with 16,443 arrivals

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 island nation 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.