Maldives lowers tourist arrival target to 1.4 million

Ministry of Tourism on Thursday lowered the tourist arrival target for 2016 from 1.5 million to 1.4 million.

Minister of Tourism Moosa Zameer said they revised the target, set under the Visit Maldives Year campaign, as it was expected that the number of arrivals decline due to negative campaigns run by the opposition, the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, and terror attacks in Europe.

He also attributed the decline to the ongoing development work at Ibrahim Nasir International Airport which has severely restricted the airport capacity to cater for additional flights.