A total of 674 tourist accommodation establishments are currently in operation with 45,293 beds across the Maldives.

Latest statistics publicized by the Ministry of Tourism indicate that of the 674 tourist facilities, 375 are guesthouses with 6,886 operational beds, 148 resorts with 34,226 beds, 140 liveaboard vessels with 2,723 beds and 11 hotels are also in operation with 1,458 beds.

The ministry revealed that guesthouses are in operation across 55 islands of eight atolls and 148 resorts across 18 atolls. By March 11, three more guesthouses had opened in Baa atoll with 54 more beds in operation, three more guesthouses with 92 more operational beds in Kaafu atoll, two more guesthouses with 26 more beds in Alif Alif atoll and two more guesthouses with 26 new beds in Gnaviyani atoll as well.

Statistics also go on to reveal that a total of 223,566 tourists had arrived in the island nation by Thursday.

This is 39.3 percent less than the number of tourists recorded for the same period last year, where 368,142 arrivals were recorded. The Ministry also shared that an average of 3,194 tourists were visiting the Maldives every day based on their statistics, with duration of stay recorded at an average of nine days.

So far in March, Maldives has welcomed 34,581 visitors and the highest daily arrivals were recorded on March 7 with 4,325 arrivals, whereas the lowest arrivals were recorded on Wednesday, with 2,368 arrivals.

Since the beginning of the year up until Thursday, India has remained the top source market for tourism in the Maldives, with 52,192 visitors being recorded from the neighboring country, which contributes 23.6 percent of the arrival rate.

Second comes Russia contributing 21.6 percent to the total arrivals, with 47,680 arrivals recorded from Russia.

Aside from India and Russia, Ukraine also remains among the top three source markets for Maldives tourism, coming third with 14,553, making up 6.6 percent of the count.

Kazakhstan, Germany, Romania, Czech Republic, France, Switzerland and the United Kingdom are also considered some of the biggest tourist markets for the Maldives.

International airlines have also been increasing flight frequency to the island nation since resuming operations after borders were reopened. As such, Emirates, Qatar Airways, Indigo, Go Air, Aeroflot, Turkish Airlines, Flydubai, Lufthansa, Azur Air Russia, Edelweiss, Air India and Etihad Airways are among the many international airlines operating flights to Maldives.

Emirates has carried the greatest number of passengers to the country thus far, at 44,065, followed by Qatar Airways having flown 31,117 passengers to Maldives and Indigo coming at third with 29,089 passengers.

The country saw a record-breaking 1.7 million tourist arrivals during 2019 and an optimistic government set a vision to break the record with two million arrivals in 2020, which was foiled by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, due to which authorities halted issuing on-arrival visas on March 27 that year.

Nearly four months later, Maldives tourism began reviving, albeit snail-paced at first, from July 15, arrivals began increasing steadily over the past couple of months. Maldives was able to exceed its new target of 545,000, by the end of December 2020 and aims to welcome 1.5 million tourist arrivals this ongoing year.

On Wednesday the Ministry of Tourism unveiled the logo to be used to celebrate and promote the country’s Golden Jubilee Year of Tourism 2022. Maldives will mark 50 years since the tourism industry’s inception, in 2022. Promotional activities launched into the beginning of the ongoing year, with the ministry’s social media accounts flooded with video clips featuring messages by senior industry officials as well as industry workers. The year 2022 is to be celebrated as the golden year of tourism in Maldives.

At the unveiling ceremony, Minister of Tourism, Dr. Abdulla Mausoom highlighted the need for local participation and empowerment in the tourism industry of Maldives.