The tourist arrival figure recorded so far this year has seen a growth of 17.1 percent in comparison to the same period of 2022.

This was revealed by the Ministry of Tourism in its latest weekly statistics, publicized on Thursday.

Since the new year began, Maldives has welcomed a total of 731,783 visitors. This includes 172,499 tourists welcomed during January and 177,915 tourists welcomed in the following month. In March Maldives recorded 173,514 tourist arrivals followed by 164,356 in April.

A total of 43,499 visitors were welcomed at Velana International Airport (VIA) between May 1 – 10.

The arrival figure for the ongoing month is a 9.8 percent drop in comparison to the 48,207 arrivals recorded in the same period last year. However, it is much higher than the 25,645 arrivals recorded in the same period of 2021.

According to the ministry, this year’s arrival figure is an increase of 17.1 percent from the 625,011 arrivals recorded in the same period last year, and a significant increase from the 415,415 arrivals recorded in 2021.

The daily average for this year is at 5,629 and tourists are staying in the Maldives for an average of eight days.

The statistics go on to reveal that Russia continues to top the source markets for the archipelago nation’s tourism, contributing 11.9 percent of the market share with 87,036 arrivals recorded from the country by May 10.

Although the country ranked third since the beginning of the year, India has climbed up to the second position contributing 11 percent with 80,605 arrivals. 2022 ended with the neighboring country as the top source market for Maldives tourism.

Coming in third is the United Kingdom contributing 9.3 percent with 68,325 arrivals.

Although Austria was among the top source markets of Maldives tourism earlier, the country has been replaced by South Korea since.

The Maldives is expected to record 1.9 million tourist arrivals by year-end. This was revealed by the Ministry of Finance. The authority recently stated that estimates have increased from 1.63 million tourists expected to arrive in the Maldives last year, and the 10.4 million in duration spent in the Maldives.

In 2022, Maldives welcomed 1,675,285 tourists, including 12.3 bed nights. President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih in his presidential address on 3 February 2022, revealed that Maldives aimed to welcome 1.6 million tourists in 2022. The island nation reached its target with the combined efforts of relevant government agencies, the private sector, and industry stakeholders. The golden jubilee year of tourism held a record of milestones related to the tourism sector. As such, Maldives was crowned the World’s Leading Destination three times in a row last year.

According to current predictions, 14 million bed nights are expected during the ongoing year, which is an increase of 1.7 million from 2022.

At a time the ministry has estimated the tourist arrival figure to increase to 1.9 million, it was earlier estimated that Maldives would record 1.81 million arrivals this year.

The finance ministry stated that the successful introduction of Covid-19 vaccines in 2021, slow easing of travel restrictions and the reopening of borders in some countries led to a significant boost in tourist arrivals.

The resumption of many air traffic routes, increased demand and opening of a new runway at Velana International Airport (VIA) in October 2022 have also played a pivotal role in increasing tourist arrivals and attracting tourists from almost all markets.

Despite several challenges posed by the Russia-Ukraine war, geopolitical turmoil, rising global oil prices, rising inflation, and restrictions imposed on travel from China, the tourism sector grew by 26.7 percent compared to 2021 and edged closer to pre-Covid levels to 98.4 in 2019.

These results are 2.5 percent higher than previous estimates of arrivals for the 2023 budget in September 2022.

The finance ministry went on to note that tourism bed nights grew by 14.7 percent in 2019 to cross the pre-pandemic levels, while the global economy recovered faster than expected, with an average tourist spending 7.3 days during that period.

This too, is a 3.3 percent increase compared to the bed nights projected in the state budget 2023.

Reports also indicate that the total number of arrivals in the first quarter of 2023 was 523,928, an increase of 8.5 percent in comparison to the corresponding period in 2019 and a significant increase of 21.4 percent in the same period of 2022.

During the same period of 2023, the average number of daily arrivals increased to 5,821.4, with the pre-Covid level crossing the 8.5 percent mark as well.

The number of bed nights during the same period sat at 3.9 million which is an increase of 14.9 percent in comparison to the same period in 2022 and 28.8 percent higher than the pre-pandemic level.

Findings also indicate that with increased competition from tourism destinations and an increase in tourist arrivals from China, the average is expected to drop to 7.2 days, but it is expected to be 6.3 days below pre-COVID levels.

The ministry also predicts that the tourism sector will pick up in 2023, it is expected that the pre-pandemic level will be surpassed, and arrivals as well as bed nights will rise in 2023 in all three scenarios.

Due to the numerous safety precautions implemented in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, alongside border closure, 2020 was a sluggish year for Maldives tourism. However, tourist arrivals began to bounce back with the easing of travel restrictions as well as safety measures against Covid-19 in 2021.

During 2020, Maldives recorded 555,494 tourist arrivals, which was a drastic plunge from the previous year’s 1,702,887 arrivals.

In his presidential address this year, delivered at the People’s Majlis on 6 February 2023, President Solih stated that the Maldives will be welcoming 3.5 million tourists, annually, by 2028.

Tourism was introduced in the Maldives in 1972. It has been 50 years since zealous travelers have been visiting the Maldives which has been drawing in visitors with its picturesque beauty for years.