China is expected to become the leading source market in Maldives before the end of this year, Tourism Minister Dr. Abdulla Mausoom has said.
Chinese tourists started arriving in Maldives on January 18 after a three-year lockdown due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
Mausoom said China is rapidly rising to become the top source market. With three months left till the end of the year, nearly 17,000 Chinese tourists are visiting the Maldives every month now.
"In terms of total tourist arrivals, there is a gap of 1.5 percent with Russia and 0.8 percent with India. China is expected to be the top market before the end of this year," he said.
Some 133,962 Chinese tourists have visited the Maldives so far this year. China is currently the third source market with a share of 10.2 percent.
The largest number of tourists so far this year came from Russia. Some 152,967 Russian tourists have visited which is 11.7 percent of the total. India is in second place with 144,014 tourists or 11 percent.
A total of 1.8 million tourists are expected to visit Maldives this year, while 1.3 million tourists have arrived so far. Around 1.1 million tourists arrived during the same period last year.
