Visitors to resorts surpass 1 million as Maldives’ tourism sees 9% growth

Tourists stroll down a wooden jetty at a Maldivian resort. (File Photo/Sun/Mohamed Muzayyin Nizam)

Visitors to resorts in the Maldives have now surpassed 1 million as the island destination seeks to boost annual visitor numbers this year to a record 2.3 million.

According to the weekly update released by the Tourism Ministry, the country welcomed 1,381,808 visitors as of Wednesday, marking a 9 percent increase compared to the same period last year.

The country has seen an average of 6,141 arrivals daily.

According to the latest update, 1,013,573 tourists who have visited the Maldives so far this year – making for 73.4 percent of total arrivals - stayed in resorts.

Meanwhile, 302,194 tourists or 21.9 percent of total visitors stayed in guesthouses in local islands, 36,668 tourists or 2.7 percent of total arrivals stayed in hotels, and 28,391 tourists or 2.1 percent of total arrivals stayed in liveaboard vessels.

China continues to dominate as the top source market for tourist arrivals with close to 209,000 arrivals, contributing to 15.2 percent of the market share. In second place is Russia with over 163,000 visitors.

TOP SOURCE MARKETS:

China: 209,865 visitors (15.2 percent)
Russia: 163,979 visitors (11.9 percent)
UK: 127,452 visitors (9.2 percent)
Italy: 99,001 visitors (7.2 percent)
Germany: 95,929 visitors (6.9 percent)
India: 78,550 visitors (5.7 percent)
USA: 41,402 visitors (3 percent)
France: 39,207 visitors (2.8 percent)
Spain: 29,237 visitors (2.1 percent)
Switzerland: 25,989 visitors (1.9 percent)

Tourist arrivals are expected to increase further once more airlines switch to the new international passenger terminal that opened at the Velana International Airport on July 26. The new terminal has the capacity to cater to 7.5 million passengers annually.

The Maldives welcomed a record two million tourist arrivals last year. The island destination, which won the award for the World Travel Awards (WTA) World's Leading Destination for the fifth consecutive year in 2024, expects to raise tourist arrivals to 2.3 million this year.