Maldives to hit millionth tourist arrival on Friday

Maldives expects to receive its millionth tourist arrival for 2022 on Friday, August 12.

Speaking about the milestone, the Chief Executive of Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) Mr. Thoyyib Mohamed said the achievement comes through the dedication and hard work of the tourism industry holistically.

According to the MMPRC chief, the achievements have been made despite challenges faced owing to global issues.

"This is a joyous occasion, to be able to welcome 1 million tourists to our shores despite the hurdles we are facing," Mr. Mohamed said.

He further commented, "This is a combined effort of government authorities, policymakers, tourism sector employees, and stakeholders who are working hard, day and night, to get here."

Speaking in the same manner, he also notes that the efforts in tourism industry improvement were not over. Mr. Mohamed further claimed that the industry need to strengthen efforts with "renewed dedication" to defend the Maldives tourism industry's position as the World's Leading Destination.

While Maldives will receive its millionth tourist on Friday, earlier this year the island nation's President Mr. Ibrahim Mohamed Solih declared the aim to welcome a total of 1.6 million tourist visitors in 2022.

Meanwhile, MMPRC remains steadfast in its efforts to promote the Maldives and maintain destination presence across key markets.

So far in 2022, MMPRC has conducted 16 different campaigns in India - the main tourist market this year - including participation in leading fairs such as OTM, SATTE, TTF Travel and Tourism Fair and recently the MILT Congress.

The tourism promoter initiated various destination marketing campaigns in the UK - the second strongest market to the Maldives - including joint campaigns with media organizations such as News UK; airlines such as British Airways; and leading tourism firms which include Kuoni, Destination 2, IF Only, and Blue Bay Travel.

Maldives marked the highest tourist arrival in 2019 with a total of 1.7 million annual arrivals. On the other hand, Ministry of Tourism reports a total of over 983,000 tourist arrivals so far in 2022.

The daily arrival average of tourists is currently recorded at 4,500.