Tourism Ministry has revealed that tourist arrivals to the Maldives spiked by 9.3 percent last September.
According to the official statistics publicized by the Ministry, the total number of tourists to the Maldives in September was 117,619, compared to the 107,620 that arrived in September last year.
However, the overall number of tourist arrivals for the year so far was 1.2 million, which is a 15.8 percent increase compared to the same period last year.
The highest number of tourists by the end of September hailed from China with 24,758 visitors. This is an 11 percent decrease from the record of 27,997 Chinese visitors in that same period last year. However, the overall Chinese arrivals to Maldives this year has increased from 222,108 to 230,349. This is an 8.4 percent increase in comparison to 2018.
The country with the second largest tourism market for Maldives is India, accounting for 11,265 visitors by the end of September this year. This is a 14.8 percent increase compared to the 5,244 that arrived the year prior.
The European market has also increased by 15 percent, with 594,657 tourist arrivals last September compared to the 516,496 from the same period last year.
The government further revealed that various forms of marketing will be launched to facilitate the targeted estimate of 1.5 million tourists visiting the archipelago by the end of 2019.
