129,000 tourist arrivals since start of January

Halfway through January, Maldives has recorded 129,000 tourist arrivals this year.  

As per Tourism Ministry statistics, this is a 10 percent year-on-year increase from 2025. This is the same rate at which tourist arrivals increased in the past two years as well. 

This year, the leading source market for tourist arrivals is Russia, with approximately 20,000 arrivals. Second on the list is Italy, with about 15,000 arrivals. This is followed by the UK, from which around 11,000 tourists have visited. 

Last year, the highest number of arrivals was from China, which is ranking fourth this year, with 8,000 tourists.

99 percent of tourists arrived in Maldives via the Velana International Airport. The remaining tourists arrived in the country through Gan International Airport, Maafaru International Airport and Hanimaadhoo International Airport. 

An average of 7,100 tourist arrivals per day has been recorded so far this year. 69 percent of these tourists spent their holidays in resorts. 

2025 saw Maldives record 2.25 million tourist arrivals. This was 50,000 less than the initial estimate.