Govt raises 2026 tourism target to 2.5 million visitors; declares 2027 as Visit Maldives Year
President Mohamed Muizzu on Thursday announced that 2027 will be designated as Visit Maldives Year, as the government increases its tourism target to 2.5 million visitors for this year.
Delivering the Presidential Address at the opening sitting of People’s Majlis, the President said tourism remains the main contributor to the national economy.
He said the government has raised its tourism target for this year from the previously budgeted 2.4 million visitors to 2.5 million.
According to the President, 2.2 million tourists visited the Maldives last year, representing a 9.8 per cent increase compared to 2024. He said tourism revenue reached USD 5.55 billion last year, an increase of 13.8 per cent over the previous year.
The Maldives Monetary Authority has projected that tourism earnings will reach USD 5.6 billion this year, the President said.
“The government aims to increase tourist arrivals to 2.5 million this year, an increase of 11.3 per cent,” he said, adding that achieving this target would require coordination across the sector.
To support this objective, the President announced that 2027 will be observed as Visit Maldives Year, describing it as a national initiative involving stakeholders across the tourism industry.
At the end of last year, total arrivals stood at 2.2 million, which was around 100,000 short of the government’s target of 2.3 million visitors.
According to the Ministry of Tourism, more than 200,000 tourists have arrived in the Maldives so far this year. Current data show that daily arrivals exceed 7,000 visitors.
