The Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) has revealed that the number of international flights movements have increased by 15% compared to 2019.
In the Quarterly Economic Bulletin, MMA stated that the number of flight movements in the third quarter of this year registered a growth of 5% relative to the same period in 2022, and an increase of 15% relative to the same period in 2019. MMA stated that the growth in annual terms reflected an increase in movements by carriers such as FlyDubai, Wizz Air and China Eastern, whereas a notable decline was observed for the frequency of movements from Qatar Airways, and Saudi Arabian Airlines.
Moreover, MMA stated that after a hiatus of over seven years, Sichuan Airlines resumed their flights between Male' and Chengdu, China in August this year. This contributed to the significant annual growth observed in the third quarter, as well as the surge in arrivals from China observed in the review quarter.
On the supply side, the average number of operational resorts increased to 173 in the third quarter of this year relative to 164 in the corresponding quarter of 2022. The operational bed capacity of the industry posted a growth of 7% in the third quarter of this year compared with the corresponding quarter in 2022.
Of the total operational bed capacity, resorts accounted for 68% of beds, followed by guesthouses at 24%. The total occupancy rate of tourism establishments dropped to 51% this quarter from 53% in the third quarter of 2022. MMA stated that the decline was mainly owing to the drop in the average occupancy rate of resorts from 65% in the third quarter of 2022 to 58% in the review quarter. However, the average occupancy rate of guesthouses increased markedly from 28% in the third quarter of 2022, to 42% in the review quarter, which cushioned the decline of total occupancy rate of the industry.