The tourism ministry has announced that the tourist arrivals in February 2019 increased by 16.8 percent, in comparison to the same period of last year.

Minister Ali Waheed made the announcement at a press conference on Thursday, and noted that a total of 320,135 tourists visited the archipelago nation in February.

Noting that the government and private sector are working together to develop the industry, the tourism minister said that he is “pleased” with the progress.

European tourist market shared the highest market percentage with 55 percent in 2018, this is a 13 percent increase to 2017. 37 percent was from the Asian region- an 8.5 percent increase- while five percent of the tourists were from the United States, a 26 percent increase.