China has climbed to second spot in the list of top source markets for tourists to the Maldives.
China was the top market before the Covid-19 pandemic. But Chinese tourists stopped visiting the Maldives as the country faced long-term lockdowns. The number of Chinese tourists started rising gradually after the country reopened borders and direct flights resumed to the Maldives.
China overtook India as the second largest tourist market last week, according to statistics from the Tourism Ministry. A total of 153,989 Chinese tourists visited the Maldives by last Monday, representing a market share of 11 percent.
Many in the tourism industry believe that China is one of the most important markets for the Maldives. Tourism Minister Dr. Abdulla Mausoom predicted that China would become the top market before the end of the year.
A top market since the Covid-19 pandemic struck, Russia remains the number one market in 2023 with 161,461 tourists so far this year. In third place now, a total of 153,424 tourists arrived from India.
The government's aim is to attract 1.9 million tourists this year. Statistics show that a total of 1.4 million tourists have visited so far in 2023, an increase of 13.9 percent from the same period last year. Some 4,980 tourist arrivals on average are recorded daily with an average duration of stay of seven days.
