Maldives achieves its one millionth tourist arrival target on Sunday, July 17th at early noon.
Russia’s Anton Pavlov was welcomed at Velana International Airport (VIA) on July 16, by an entourage led by Minister of Tourism Abdulla Mausoom and top officials of Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC).
Last year, the Maldives achieved its one millionth arrival target in August.
The annual total tourist arrivals recorded in 2022 stood at 1.6 million. The Ministry of Tourism had initially set a target of 1.8 million tourist arrivals for this year. However, with the resumption of the Chinese tourist market earlier in 2023, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih revised the target to 1.9 million arrivals.
Minister Mausoom said that while the government and tourist industry stakeholders aimed to reach the millionth arrival by the first week of July, there was a mild delay in achieving the target. He however, said that tourist influx will improve significantly in the following months.
The Minister was hopeful that the Maldives will reach President Solih’s arrival target for this year.
"Tourist arrivals are expected to see significant improvement in the next five months, and we anticipate that China will secure one of the top three positions as a source market for the Maldives this year," Minister Mausoom said.
China is currently the fourth strongest source market to the Maldives with over 74,000 tourist arrivals from the country so far in 2023.
Top Three Tourist Source Markets in 2023
- India: 115,800
- Russia: 115,300
- United Kingdom: 84,000
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