Maldives seeks to boost tourist arrivals to 3 million by 2026

The government aims to boost annual tourist arrivals to the Maldives to three million in 2026, says Tourism Minister Ibrahim Faisal.

He made the remark in an appearance on PSM’s ‘Raajje Miadhu’ program on Sunday.

Faisal said that Maldives will be able to achieve the target once the new passenger terminal opens at the Velana International Airport (VIA).

The work on the terminal is expected to be done within next year.

“I believe that Maldives will see the highest number of tourist arrivals in the country’s history by the end of President Dr. [Mohamed] Muizzu’s administration. This is arrivals within the range of three million to four million,” he said.

Faisal noted that tourism is the biggest generator of revenue in the Maldivian economy. But he expressed concern that despite an increase in arrivals, tourism revenue has declined.

“It is one of my biggest targets to bring in more tourists from the India market and the China market. For example, 500,000 tourists from India or China,” said Faisal, adding that Maldives could easily source one million tourists from the two markets alone.

The Maldives is targeting a record two million tourist arrivals this year.

Faisal said that it will be “easier to achieve this target if we target India.”

The India market had been the top source market for tourist arrivals in the beginning of the year – a position it had maintained throughout the pandemic. However, the market has now slipped to sixth rank, with 73,258 arrivals as of August 7.

The dwindling numbers prompted the Maldives to increase promotional activities targeting Indian travelers.

He reiterated his hope to see India back as one of the top three source markets for tourist arrivals by the end of this year.

“Our goal is to lift India from sixth to top three,” he said.

Faisal said the opening of the new passenger terminal at VIA will also see an influx of additional airlines that fly to the Maldives. He said that the Tourism Ministry is engaged in talks with the Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL) to conduct tourism promotional activities.

Faisal said that he met with the Indian Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu during his recent visit to India, during which they engaged in discussions regarding boosting the connectivity between the two countries and having more Indian airlines operate in the Maldives.

He also met with Indian Tourism Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and discussed boosting arrivals and tourism investments.

The meetings were held on the sidelines of the ‘Welcome India’ roadshows in New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.

Building on the momentum generated by the roadshows, the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) plans to continue to implement strategic initiatives to increase arrivals from the Indian market, and reinstate it as one of the top three source markets for visitors to the country.

Upcoming promotional activities targeting the Indian market includes the Globalspa campaign, joint marketing partnerships with Cleartrip and Pickyourtrail, and familiarization trips – which MMPRC expects to further reinforce the Maldives’ position as the top-of-mind destination for Indian travelers.

Maldives, which won the award for the WTA World's Leading Destination for the fourth consecutive year in 2023, is eying a record 2 million tourist arrivals this year. It is already halfway there, with over 1.2 million arrivals.