The central bank, Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA), has said resorts will receive only 20 percent of bookings from Russia for the rest of the year.
In responses sent by resorts for the Quarterly Survey conducted to assess the business activities of the three biggest economic sectors, resorts said the Russian market would possess 20 percent of arrivals for the remainder of the year. Russia used to be the top source market before the country waged war on Ukraine.
Seventy-two percent of resorts that took part in the survey said the Russia-Ukraine war significantly affected their revenue from January to March. Twenty-four percent of resorts said their income was not affected by the war. Another thirty-four percent of resorts said several bookings were canceled due to the war.
According to the Tourism Ministry's statistics, Russia currently possesses eight percent of tourist arrival. By April 27 this year, 49,510 tourists have visited the Maldives from Russia. The number of Russian arrivals may increase in the coming weeks as Russian national carrier Aeroflot is preparing to resume operation to the Maldives this month.
