Tourist arrivals to Maldives grow by 9% to top 1.6 million

Tourist arrivals to the Maldives has surpassed 1.6 million, bringing the island destination closer to its annual arrivals target of a record two million tourists.

The latest statistics released by the Tourism Ministry shows the Maldives recorded 1,614,676 tourist arrivals as of October 23. This marks a 9.4 percent growth compared to the 1,476,573 arrivals recorded during the same period last year.

The country is now just short of 385,324 visitors to meet its annual arrivals target of a record two million set for this year.

China continues to be the top source market for tourist arrivals, with over 230,000 visitors, followed by Russia and the United Kingdom.

TOP SOURCE MARKETS:

• China: 236,822 visitors (14.7 percent)
• Russia: 177,788 visitors (11 percent)
• UK: 137,288 visitors (8.5 percent)
• Germany: 121,800 visitors (7.5 percent)
• Italy: 112,048 visitors (6.9 percent)
• India: 97,343 visitors (6 percent)
• USA: 54,437 visitors (3.4 percent)
• France: 43,511 visitors (2.7 percent)
• Spain: 37,809 visitors (2.3 percent)
• Switzerland: 31,475 visitors (1.9 percent)

In October, the Maldives saw 122,649 visitors – 6.2 percent higher than the 115,525 arrivals during the same period last year. The daily average arrivals in October are 5,333 visitors.

The average duration of stay this year is 7.7 days, with a daily average arrival of 5,437 visitors.