Maldives welcomes over 200,000 tourists till date in 2021

Russian tourist Marina Kazakova (C) - the 1.5 millionth tourist to arrive in Maldives in 2019 - is welcomed upon arrival at the Velana International Airport on November 24, 2019 | Photo: Fayaz Moosa

Malé, Maldives – The Maldives, with in just three months, has welcomed more than 200,000 tourists to the country during the year 2021.

According to the latest statistics released by the Ministry of Tourism of Maldives, a total of 200,871 visitors have arrived in the Maldives by 4th of March, during 2021, with India topping the market having have contributed 46,541 arrivals so far.

While India leads, Russia comes in second with 42,417 arrivals, as countries such as Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Germany, Romania, France, Czech Republic, Switzerland and United Kingdom follow on the top ten arrivals list.

Being heavily reliant on the tourism industry with majority of its income coming from the sector either directly or indirectly, the Maldivian economy crashed hard and fast when the pandemic hit, suspending flights and closing off countries. However, Maldives has come a long way since then and has made a very successful recovery of the sector, adapting to a new normal way of life and tourism. 

As of now, Maldives has welcomed more than 200,000 tourists in just 2021 alone, with numbers expected to increase on the daily as Covid-19 safety measures and vaccination continues to makes traveling safer again. Til date, more than 30 percent of the tourism front line workers have received at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccines, in the Maldives.

With this, the country is aiming to make 2022 the golden year of tourism, for which preparations have already begun. This year one million tourists are expected to visit the Maldives, as bed capacities in various tourist accommodation modes open up, adapted to the new normal life.