Tourist Arrivals Up 12% and 2.3 Million Expected Arrivals By Year End

Speaking at the launch of the Maldives Youth Hackathon, Faisal said the Ministry of Tourism's target is to bring 2 million tourists to Maldives before the end of this year. If the Chinese and Indian markets are kept constant, the tourist arrivals are expected to reach 2.3 million before the end of this year, he said.

The Minister stated that the Ministry of Tourism and the Maldives Media and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) would work together to achieve this goal.

The government appears to be on track to achieve this target, as the number of tourists arriving in Maldives so far this year has increased by 12 percent year-on-year, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Tourism.

Statistics show that 174,000 tourists have visited the country this month, with an average of 6,200 tourist arrivals per day. This is up from the figure of 155,000 tourist arrivals the country had during the same period last year.

Russia topped the list with 18,500 tourists. Italy was second on the list with 18,100 tourists, followed by China with 16,000.

India, which topped the list last year, is now fifth. The country has received 13,900 tourists so far this year. The UK, France, Germany and Switzerland were also among the top tourist markets this month.