Maldives tourist arrivals increase by 11 percent

Maldives welcomed a total of 518,166 tourists from January to May 2014, registering a strong growth of 11.9 percent compared to the same the period of 2013.

According to numbers published by the Tourism Ministry on 25 June, Maldives received 91,296 tourists in May 2014, a 14.9 percent increase compared to May last year.

Tourist arrivals from the European region reached a total of 253,602 at the end May 2014. Europe remains as the market leader with a marginal growth of 0.7 percent for the period.

Total arrivals from the Asia and the Pacific region for the period from January to May 2014 was recorded to be 229,847, a 24.7 percent increase over the same period of 2013.

Americas, which was the third leading region with 3.4 percent shares, brought in 17,470 tourists to the Maldives during the period January to May 2014, a growth of 32 percent.

Maldives received a total of 141,249 tourists from China at the end of May 2014, a 23.3 percent increase over the same period of 2013, the most arrivals received from a single country.