The largest number of tourists arrived in the Maldives from Russia in the first five days of this year, according to statistics from the Tourism Ministry.

A total of 35,732 tourists arrived in the first five days of the year. Of these, 98 percent entered the Maldives from Velana International Airport (VIA).

Russia had the highest number of tourists in the first five days, with 7,504. Italy came in second with 6,013 tourists, while the UK came in third with 2,288.

There were 957 tourists from China, the largest source market in the past two years. The country is currently ranked seventh.

So far this year, an average of 7,146 tourists have arrived in the Maldives daily. The largest number of tourists arrived on January 2 with 8,082 arrivals.

Last year, a record number of tourists arrived (2.2 million), but the projected 2.3 million target was not achieved. However, year-on-year, tourist arrivals have increased by about 10 percent.

The government expects the tourism industry to continue to grow this year. The approved state budget estimates that 2.4 million tourists will arrive in 2026.