Tourism was introduced to Maldives in 1972, and has been steady 50 years since zealous tourists have been coming back for more of the rightfully dubbed paradise on earth.

• 37,598 travelers have been welcomed so far in December.
• India continues to be the archipelago nation’s biggest source market for tourism.
• According to the data, arrivals from the South Korean market have been growing in recent days.

According to the ministry’s estimates, the Maldives received 1,528,841 tourists between January 1 and December 7. This represents a 28.1 percent increase over 2021 but a 2.3 percent decrease over 2019.

This implies that the Maldives is getting closer to fulfilling its tourist arrival target for the current year, falling just 100,000 tourists short.

In his inaugural speech on February 3, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih stated that the Maldives hopes to welcome 1.6 million tourists this year. On August 13, the Maldives welcomed its one millionth visitor of the year.

The biggest number of tourist visits so far this month was registered on December 3, with over 6,000 people welcomed.

The figure for December is up 5.1 percent from the previous year and 12.6 percent from the figure for the same month in 2019.

Daily arrivals by far in December:

• 5,863 tourists were welcomed on December 1
• 5,092 tourists were welcomed on December 2
• 6,100 tourists were welcomed on December 3
• 5,839 tourists were welcomed on December 4
• 4,818 tourists were welcomed on December 5
• 5,310 tourists were welcomed on December 6

This year’s daily average continues at 4,573, and tourists stay in the Maldives for an average of eight days.

This year’s overall arrival statistic comprises 131,764 visitors received in January, 149,008 travelers greeted in February, 150,739 travellers welcomed in March, and 145,280 tourists welcomed in April. In May, 125,522 visitors were welcomed, followed by 110,889 travelers in June and 133,561 tourists in July. The Maldives received 131,862 tourists in August, followed by 111,986 in September. The archipelago country saw 153,737 arrivals in October.

146,886 visitors visited the Maldives in November.

37,598 travelers have been welcomed so far in December.

As the year comes to a close, the numbers show that India remains the archipelago nation’s biggest source market for tourism.

As a result, India is the leading tourist market for the Maldives, accounting for 14.2 percent of overall visitors as of December 7, with a total of 216,387 registered arrivals.

Russia follows in second, accounting for 12.2 percent of all arrivals with 186,114.

The United Kingdom is third, accounting for 10.8 percent of all arrivals with 164,973 people.

 2022 Other top tourist markets

• Germany contributing 8.2 percent with 124,778 arrivals
• Italy contributing 5.6 percent with 85,330 arrivals
• United States contributing 4.8 percent with 73,382 arrivals
• France contributing 2.8 percent with 43,227 arrivals
• Spain contributing 2.6 percent with 40,228 arrivals
• South Korea contributing 2.2 percent with 33,388 arrivals
• Switzerland contributing 2.1 percent with 32,193 arrivals

According to the data, arrivals from the South Korean market have been growing in recent days.

Due to the extensive safety precautions imposed in the wake of the Covid-19 epidemic, as well as border closures, 2020 was a slow year for Maldives tourism.

During 2020, Maldives recorded 555,494 tourist arrivals, which was a drastic plunge from the previous year’s 1,702,887 arrivals. Tourist arrivals began to bounce back with the easing of travel restrictions as well as safety measures against Covid-19 in 2021. Maldives met its tourist arrival target for 2021 in late December and welcomed a total of 1,321,932 tourists by the end of the year.