Ministry of Tourism has revealed that a record number of tourists visited the Maldives in January.
The latest statistics from the tourism ministry show that 172,535 tourists visited the Maldives in January, which is a 30.9% increase compared to the 131,762 tourist arrivals recorded in January of 2022. It is also a 13.8% increase compared to the 151,552 arrivals recorded in January 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The statistics for January also show that the largest number of tourists arrived from Russia with 24,154 visits, while 19,390 tourists arrived from India and 17,159 tourists arrived from Italy. Tourists from China have also begun visiting the Maldives since the easing of restrictions. As such, 5,985 tourists visited from China in January.
It is currently the peak season for tourism and a total of 36 international airlines currently operate flights to the Maldives. The government had aimed to bring in 1.6 million tourists by 2022 and the target was achieved on December 20. The government aims to attract 1.8 million tourists in 2023.