The Maldives, a tourism reliant economy, witnessed a growth of 46 percent in tourist arrival in the first four months of this year, as around half a million tourists visited the archipelago till April. This is a remarkable improvement after its economy plunged by 30 percent in 2020 after the pandemic.

Known for its white sandy beaches and beautiful islands, the Maldives saw 553,878 arrivals between January 1 – April 25, of which 131,764 were welcomed during January and 149,008 arrivals were recorded in February. In March, 150,739 arrivals were recorded, according to the data released by the Ministry of Tourism.  

In April month, it received over 130,000 tourists, a 50.7 percent growth in comparison to the same month in 2021, and a 2.7 percent decrease from the figure recorded in 2019.

Although the total arrival figure so far showed a growth of 46 percent in comparison to the arrivals recorded in 2021, it is still 9.7 percent less in comparison to the pre-pandemic of 2019. In terms of daily arrival, the Maldives is yet to match its pre-pandemic level of 5472. So far, in 2022, on average around 4900 tourists visited daily.

The United Kingdom with a 13.2 percent share became the top market for its tourism, replacing Russia, which slipped to the third spot after the war erupted in Ukraine. With around 11 percent share, India remains the second-biggest market.

Revenues from tourism contribute almost 70 percent of the country’s total GDP. In a recently released growth prospect, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) projected the Maldives to grow by 11 percent, mainly because of the rebound in the tourism industry.

“The strong economic recovery will be sustained by still substantial tourism activity and the start of construction on large public infrastructure projects. Diversifying sources of economic growth beyond tourism is a major policy challenge,” the ADB said in its report.
(SAM)