The number of tourists who arrived in the Maldives this year has crossed 700,000.
Statistics released by the Tourism Ministry show 705,024 tourists have visited the Maldives thus far this year.
92,103 tourists visited the Maldives during January this year which is a 46.9 percent decrease compared to the 173,347 tourists who visited the archipelago during the same period last year. 96,882 tourists visited in February, which is a 39.2 decrease compared to February of 2020. A further decline of 35.5 percent was recorded in March, with arrival numbers for the month at 109,585.
As a precautionary measure against COVID-19, the Maldives went into lockdown and closed its borders in March 2020, due to which only 13 arrivals were recorded in April that year. The borders remained closed for almost three months, until mid-July.
This year, 91,200 tourists arrived during April, and 63,416 arrivals in May. In June, the numbers were at 56,166, and increased to 101,818 in July.
1.7 million tourists visited the Maldives in 2019. While the tourism industry is booming at this time, the government hopes to welcome 1.5 million tourists this year.
