Male, Maldives (CU)_ The Maldives has touched the milestone of one million tourists this year. With the arrival of a Czech Republic citizen on holiday with her partner, the government hit the one-million mark for the year. With this accomplishment, the Maldives is getting closer to its 2022 aim of 1.6 million visitor arrivals.
Dr. Ahmed Salih, State Minister of Tourism, disclosed to the media that the ministry anticipates reaching the annual tourist arrival target within the next three months. He made the remarks during the event conducted at Velana International Airport (VIA) to welcome the one millionth visitor. During his presidential speech on February 3, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih also said that the Maldives intends to welcome 1.6 million visitors this year.
As of Friday, Maldives’ total visitor arrivals from January 1 to August 8 reached 983,766, surpassing the one-million mark. This year’s total arrivals are 51 percent more than those reported in 2021. It is a decrease of 4.8 percent as compared to the 2019 statistics. The year 2020 was a slow year for Maldives tourism due to the pandemic and closing of borders.
Of the total number of tourists that arrived this year, the island received 131,764 visitors in January, followed by 149,008 in February, 150,739 in March, and 145,280 in April. In May, 125,522 tourists visited the Maldives, followed by 110,889 tourists in June and 133,562 in July. Furthermore, the first week of August had 26,926 passenger arrivals. Thoyyib Mohamed, CEO and Managing Director of Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC), commented on this tremendous achievement, praising all those who contributed to making it possible despite the numerous hurdles posed by the global economic crisis.
