Local travel agents report bookings were confirmed, for Saturday, to accommodate 1160 foreigners from Russia, Ukraine and other countries over the Eastern European region, headed to various locations across the Maldivian archipelago in time for the holiday season.
According to local news outlet Mihaaru, which published the news, the record amount of bookings cemented December 26 as the day Maldives welcomed the highest number of tourist arrivals across a single region not only for the year 2020, but in the country’s history.
In an interview with Mihaaru News, owner of Resort Life travel agency Mohamed Shaaz Waleed revealed that the tourists arrived via a Russian airline and two Ukranian flights.
Based on resort and guesthouse bookings, from Christmas onwards to after New Year’s, Velana International Airport (VIA) is expected remain extremely busy, with rising numbers of people flying to Maldives for their festive celebrations.
When the ongoing COVID19 pandemic first emerged border closures and travel bans were implemented all over the globe, and although one of the world’s most popular travel destinations, Maldives too saw a deep decline in tourist arrivals - even once restrictions were lifted.
The Russian market, Waleed asserts, was the first to recover and ‘enthusiastically’ resume travel to the island nation, followed closely by a similar uptick in tourist arrivals from neighbouring Ukraine and Kazakhstan.
“Starting from Saturday stretching through to the end of January, three flights are set to arrive from Ukraine every week”, he said.
Figures from throughout the year also indicate that the largest percentage of tourists to arrive in Maldives from any single country as being Russia, with a total of 46,000 Russian tourists gracing these tropical shores in 2020.
In December, thus far, Maldives has recorded 69,000 incoming tourists, marking the highest number of arrivals within a month for this year. Statistics for November indicate nearly half the number with 35,000 arrivals in total.
The island nation reopened its borders to international passengers on July 15, after nearly four months since the state halted issuing on-arrival visas on March 27. Guesthouses were permitted to resume operations and kick start local tourism on October 15.
On December 12, Maldives recorded the arrival of the 100,000th tourist following the removal of travel restrictions. Five days after the milestone was reached, the government welcomed 500,000th tourist for the year 2020.
Although Maldives has noted a significant reduction in tourist arrivals compared to pre-COVID figures, there has been a gradual increase with the establishment of travel bubbles between Maldives and other countries, as well as greater connectivity in terms of flight operations. At present, over 18 airlines are managing flights to and from Maldives.
Last week, Mihaaru News observed that the number of foreign nationals arriving at VIA within a period of 24 hours, had begun averaging 4000 tourists per day.
It was suggested that a 15 percent increase in flights headed for Maldives had led to a rise of 32 percent in tourist arrivals, with unnamed sources within the industry quoted saying that, per their estimates, current figures indicate a recovery curve close to pre-COVID19 arrival rates.
It is anticipated that arrival rates to the tropical Republic are set to peak during the year 2021.
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