The traditional high season of the Maldives tourism industry is in full swing with new records set for daily tourist arrivals and runway movements at the Velana International Airport.
The highest number of tourist arrivals on a single day so far this year was recorded on Monday (26 December) with 7,621 holidaymakers. The daily average of 5,764 tourists between 1 to 26 December was also the highest average in 2022, surpassing the daily average of 5,388 in December 2019.
A total of 228 runway movements, including 104 International flights, 104 domestic flights, and 20 general aviation (private jets), last Thursday (22 December) was a new record since the opening of the 3,400 meter, code-F runway in October.
On Tuesday (20 December), the Maldives welcomed the 1.6 millionth tourist of the year, achieving the government’s optimistic target for 2022 with a week to spare. Total arrivals of 1,641,104 tourists as of 26 December was just -1.8% below pre-pandemic levels and 27% higher than last year.
India remains the top source country with a 14% market share, followed by Russia, UK, Germany, Italy, United States, France, Spain, South Korea and Switzerland.
New records for monthly tourist arrivals were also set earlier this year with over 153,600 visitors in October and more than 104,000 arrivals in May. A nearly 100% increase was recorded in June and arrivals exceeded pre-pandemic levels in July.
The Maldives tourism industry continues its rapid and robust recovery despite the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – which caused arrivals to plummet from the top market – and the complete absence of Chinese holidaymakers, who accounted for the largest source market before the pandemic.
