Maldives attracts over 100k tourists for fourth month with Sept. arrivals

As nations across the globe are gearing up to welcome tourists, the Maldives has been successful in attracting over 100,000 travellers for the fourth month this year since it opened its borders.

With September recording a total of 102,745 arrivals, the island nation has managed to attract 858, 711 travellers so far this year.

The arrival numbers are not only improving on a month-on-month basis but have also exceeded numbers recorded in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic struck.

The September 2021 arrivals is a 2.5 percent increase from the arrivals recorded in September 2019, statistics from the Tourism Ministry Maldives showed.

However, it was the month of August that broke the monthly arrival records as the nation attracted a total of 143,599 tourists.

Of the total arrivals figure recorded so far this year, 92,103 tourist arrivals were recorded during January and 96,882 visitors were welcomed during February. 

Arrivals in March were at 109,585 making it the second highest figure recorded so far in 2021. In April, the Maldives welcomed 91,200 arrivals, followed by 64,613 visitors in May.

The number dropped to 56,166 during the month that followed, which the Tourism Ministry attributed to the restrictions and precautionary measures implemented in the face of a worsening COVID-19 situation as a fourth and more infectious wave was confirmed in early May. July saw 101,818 visitors enter the nation.

The Maldives inches closer to its tourist arrival target of 1.3 million for the year and its Tourism Ministry revealed that neighbouring giant India remains the top source market for tourism, contributing 22.9 percent of the total arrival figure.

In the first few months of the year, Russia dominated the Maldives’ tourism markets when arrivals from India witnessed a dip, following the travel restrictions imposed on visitors from South Asia back in May.

With India taking over the top position as a major source market, Russia ranks second by contributing 19.8 percent of the total arrivals, followed by Germany contributing 6.1 percent of the total arrival figure.

The United States, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine, Spain, the United Kingdom, Kazakhstan and France are also considered some of the biggest tourist markets for the Maldives

The Maldives has 883 operational tourist accommodation establishments at present, of which 573 are guesthouses, 156 are resorts, 144 are live-aboard vessels and the remaining 10 are hotels.