Maldives sees robust 9% growth in tourist arrivals, but decline in average stay

The Maldives has seen an increase in tourist arrivals this year, but a decline in the average duration of stay by visitors.

According to the latest economic update released by the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) on Sunday, the Maldives welcomed 1,294,868 visitors between January and July, marking a nine percent increase from the same period last year, and a one percent increase in bed nights.

But while the island destination continues to see robust growth in tourist arrivals, the average duration of stay by visitors declined from 7.6 days to 6.9 days.

The update shows that the country welcomed 186,738 visitors in July alone – marking an 11 percent increase compared to the same period last year.

Meanwhile, total tourist bed nights increased by 9 percent; something the MMA attributed mainly to an increase in bed nights of guesthouses.

According to MMA, guesthouse bed nights increased by 55 percent, while resort bed nights increased by 2 percent in July.

Meanwhile, the operational bed capacity of the tourism industry saw an annual increase of 3,114 beds in July, while the occupancy rate increased to 59 percent – rising from 57 percent during the same period last year.

The annual increase in tourist arrivals largely reflected robust arrivals from China, as well as the main source markets of Europe.

ARRIVALS SURPASS 1.4 MILLION

According to the latest daily update released by the Tourism Ministry, the country welcomed 1,482,668 visitors as of Saturday, marking a 9.4 percent increase compared to the same period last year, when the island country saw 1,355,395 visitors.

China continues to dominate as the top source market for tourist arrivals with over 234,000 arrivals, contributing to 15.8 percent of the market share. In second place is Russia with over 176,000 visitors.

TOP SOURCE MARKETS:

• China: 234,440 visitors (15.8 percent)
• Russia: 176,972 visitors (11.9 percent)
• UK: 133,733 visitors (9 percent)
• Italy: 105,990 visitors (7.1 percent)
• Germany: 102,171 visitors (6.9 percent)
• India: 84,845 visitors (5.7 percent)
• USA: 43,457 visitors (2.9 percent)
• France: 40,901 visitors (2.8 percent)
• Spain: 33,932 visitors (2.3 percent)
• Australia: 27,019 visitors (1.8 percent)

According to the latest update, 73.4 percent of visitors stayed in resorts, while 21.8 percent stayed in guesthouses in local islands, 2.6 percent stayed in hotels, and 2 percent stayed in liveaboard vessels.

Tourist arrivals are expected to increase further once more airlines switch to the new international passenger terminal that opened at the Velana International Airport on July 26. The new terminal has the capacity to cater to 7.5 million passengers annually.

The Maldives welcomed a record two million tourist arrivals last year. The island destination, which won the award for the World Travel Awards (WTA) World's Leading Destination for the fifth consecutive year in 2024, expects to raise tourist arrivals to 2.3 million this year.