Maldives welcomes the 500,000th tourist of 2020

The Maldives celebrated the arrival of the 500,000th tourist for the year 2020 with a ceremony held at Velana International Airport.

The global travel industry suffered setbacks due to the Covid-19 pandemic and with this, the number of tourist arrivals to the Maldives had dwindled. Hence, with the border closures associated with the pandemic, the government estimated that a total of 500,000 tourists would visit the country in 2020. Previously the government estimated that 500,000th tourists would visit the country on 25th December.

While tourist arrivals were lower than expected following the border opening on July 15th, the number of tourist arrivals has significantly increased in the following months. With this, the government’s target of bringing 500,000 visitors to the country was achieved earlier than estimated.

A special ceremony was held at Velana International Airport to welcome the 500,000th visitor to the country who arrived via Emirates airline. Ministry of Tourism estimates that 1.5 million tourists will visit the country in 2021.