Maldives breaks record with 200,000 monthly tourist arrivals

Maldives has made an unprecedented record on their tourist arrival rates with an arrival of 200,000 tourists within the preceding month.

As disclosed in the statistical report by the Ministry of Tourism statistics, 200,000 tourists had visited the country until the 26th of this month with most arrivals stemming from China. This is a 20 percent increase from February last year when a total of 177,000 tourist arrivals had been recorded, which was consequently the highest rate of monthly arrivals observed in the year 2023.

Over 192,000 tourists had traveled to the country within the preceding month of January.

This month, a daily average of 7,600 tourist arrivals have been observed visiting the country with this rise stemming from the increased Chinese direct flights to the country. Approximately 52,000 Chinese tourists had touched down in Maldives this year, marking thirteen percent of the total tourist arrivals. Russia follows closely as the second highest contributor with 37,800 visits from their country. Furthermore, Italy had produced 37,300 tourist arrivals this year while England had contributed 34,000 visits to Maldives.

Maldives has observed a 15 percent increase in tourist arrivals from the preceding year with 390,000 visits so far in 2024.

While a significant boost in tourist arrivals was witnessed this year on account of the Chinese market, the government had earlier stated that additional airlines from China will commence further travels to Maldives in the foreseeable future. Presently, Beijing Capital Airlines, Chinese Eastern Airlines and Sichuan Airlines operate direct flights between the two countries while China’s Xiamen Air began operating chartered flights to the Maldives earlier this month.

The state budget has set a target for 2 million annual tourist arrivals in 2024 while the Ministry of Tourism aims higher, aspiring to attract over 2.3 million tourists in this same period.

Countries generating the most tourist visits to Maldives

1. China

2. Russia

3. Italy

4. England

5. India

6. Germany

7. France

8. America

9. Poland

10. Switzerland