The Ministry of Tourism has revealed the occupancy rate increased during the first nine months of 2022 compared to the first nine months of 2021.
A total of 1.2 million tourists visited the Maldives in the first nine months of 2022 compared to 800,000 tourists in 2021. The tourism industry has now returned to its former state after the COVID-19 outbreak due to the joint efforts of the government and stakeholders to promote the Maldives as a tourist destination and raise awareness that the country is safe to visit even during the pandemic. Therefore, the number of tourists and the occupancy rate have also increased, according to the ministry.
The statistics show that the occupancy rate for the first nine months of 2021 was 52%. However, the occupancy rate stood at 59% for the same period in 2022 which is an increase of 7%. The number of beds operated in the country also increased during the period. As such, around 48,000 beds were put into operation by tourism businesses in the first nine months of 2021. However, the number of beds increased to 56,405 during the same period in 2022.
The largest number of tourists arrived in the Maldives through Velana International Airport (VIA) and Mafaru International Airport has the second highest number of tourist arrivals as it also handles a large number of private jets.