The tourism ministry is optimistic on reaching arrivals targets after healthy growth in tourist arrivals during the first half of the year.
A total of 929,607 tourists visited the Maldives by the end of June, an increase of 14.3% compared to last year and up 7.8% from the corresponding pre-pandemic period in 2019.
“With the results of the first half of the year, the second half of the year began with the preparation of welcoming 1 million tourists,” Tourism Ministry said.
Since the opening of its borders, Chinese tourist arrivals have been gaining momentum since January this year, with China positioning itself at the 6th place of the top 10 source markets.
As of 5th July, India remains the top market with 112,771 tourist arrivals, followed by Russia (111,519), the United Kingdom (81,707), China (67,822), and Germany (67,064).
There are 170 resorts, 13 hotels, 909 guest houses and 160 safari vessels in operation with a combined bed capacity of 60,954.
According to the tourism ministry, during the first half of this year, 4 new resorts, 37 guest houses and 2 tourist vessels came in to operation, totaling the registered capacity to 61,804.
“The accommodation capacity has been increasing in line with the arrival numbers,” the ministry said.
Air connectivity is showing a positive comeback as well. In addition to the recommencement of the Beijing Capital airline and the China Eastern this year, two new low-cost carriers, Saudi Arabia’s Flynas and Batik Air Malaysia launched direct flights to the Maldives. More airlines are expected to commence flights to the Maldives in the upcoming months.
“With the current arrival trend, total arrivals for 2023 is expected to surpass the initial estimate of 1.8 million for the year,” the tourism ministry said.
