The Tourism Ministry has stated that over 450,000 tourists visited the Maldives over the last five months.
The Maldives closed its borders to tourists in March 2020 as a precautionary measure against COVID-19. The tourism-dependent archipelago reopened its doors to tourists almost four months later in July 2020.
Statistics shared by the Tourism Ministry show 453,186 tourists arrived in the Maldives between January and May 2021. While 92,103 tourists arrived in January, it is a 46.9 percent decrease compared to the same period in 2020, and a 39.2 percent drop compared to the same period in 2019. 96,882 tourists visited the Maldives during February 2021, a 35.5 percent decrease from the same period in 2020 and a 42.5 percent decrease compared to the year before that.
Tourism Ministry said 109,585 tourists arrived in the Maldives in March and 91,200 tourists visited in April. 63,416 tourists traveled to the Maldives in May 2021, increasing the tally to over 65,000.
The daily tourist arrival numbers average at 1,700 at this time. The arrival numbers dropped below 2000 after April 16. It is believed that the numbers dropped due to a surge in COVID-19 infections in the Maldives. According to the figures, tourists stayed in the Maldives for approximately 7.6 days over the past five months, and contributed to increased tourism revenue during this period.
The government hopes to host over a one million tourists this year.
