Tourist arrivals to the Maldives so far this year have reached half a million as the up market tourist destination recorded a tourism boost in comparison to last year.
According to official tourism statistics, a total of 572,318 tourists arrived in the Maldives by the end of May which is a 5.8 percent increase from the 540,887 in the same period last year.
The statistics show that the European market was the major contributor with a 10.4 percent hike from last year registering 290,968. The biggest difference was Russia with over 40 percent increase from last year. Italy however was the largest contributor was Italy with 44,926 followed by Russia and France.
German tourists however recorded a 5.1 percent decline, sliding from 49,303 last year to 46,807 this year.
Elsewhere, south east Asia registered a 20.9 percent increase with 29,522 arrivals while India dominated the Asia market with 30,610 visitors this year from 25,441 last year.
