China has edged closer to its former place as the top source market for tourists to the Maldives before Covid-19, six months after Chinese tourists started returning.
A large number of Chinese tourists started visiting the Maldives as China reopened its borders after three years on January 8 this year.
Two weeks after borders reopened, China was among the top 10 markets for tourists to the Maldives.
China was the ninth largest market with 2239 tourists, according to statistics released by the tourism ministry on January 22.
The number of tourists from China increased day by day and reached nearly 100,000 over the past six months.
According to the 'Maldives Tourism Update' released by the tourism ministry on Friday, 80,769 Chinese tourists visited by July 19, representing a 7.9 percent market share.
From the ninth spot in January, China is now ranked as the fourth largest market.
Russia remains the top source market for tourists, according to the tourism ministry's statistics. Some 119,405 Russian tourists have visited the Maldives, representing 11.7 percent of all tourist arrivals.
Neighbouring India was in second place with 118,638 tourists. The United Kingdom was the third largest market with 85,884 tourists.
A total of 1,016,719 tourists visited the Maldives by July 19.
China is likely to regain its place as the top tourist market for the Maldives if the number of Chinese tourists increases at the current rate.
Before the pandemic, China was the top market in 2017 and 2018 as well. More than 280,000 Chinese tourists arrived in 2019.
But the figure dropped by 87 percent due to covid in 2020. Only about 35,000 Chinese tourists visited the Maldives during the year.
There are 1,253 tourist establishments in operation across the Maldives, including 171 resorts, 908 guesthouses, 161 safari vessels and 13 hotels. The combined bed capacity is 61,116.
