30% Increase in Tourist Arrivals in January 2023 Compared to 2022

Tourist arrivals in January 2023 see a 30.9% increase compared to 2022. In January, there were 178,159 arrivals compared to 136,146 arrivals in January 2022. Arrivals this year are nearly double than January 2021 with 94,261 arrivals. The growth indicates a strong post COVID-19 recovery for the industry.

The top three markets are Russia, India and Italy. So far, in 2023, Russians account for 13.6% of arrivals. After the festive season, India replaced Italy as the second highest market with 10.9% market share and 19,390 arrivals. Italy trails close behind with 9.6% market share of 17,159 arrivals.

After direct flights from China resumed on January 18th, China quickly climbed to the 8th source market position, enjoying 3.4% of market share with 5,985 arrivals in less than two weeks. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, China was the Maldives’ largest source market, with 284,029 tourist arrivals in 2019, representing a 17% market share. Since 2010, with the introduction of direct flights between the destinations, China quickly became and remained the Maldives top source market.