Maldives welcomes UK’s Benjamin Moore as first tourist of 2024

The first visitor to grace Maldives in the new year, a British national, was greeted with a warm welcome on Monday.

Traditionally, the inaugural tourist passing through immigration on New Year’s Day is hailed as the first arrival of the year in Maldives, receiving a warm reception.

This year’s first traveller happened to be Benjamin Duncan Moore, hailing from the UK.

Upon his arrival at Velana International Airport, he was greeted by Ibrahim Faisal, the tourism minister, alongside representatives from the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC), Immigration, and Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL).

Reflecting on the tourism landscape, Faisal highlighted that Maldives had welcomed 1.8 million tourists the previous year. He expressed confidence in meeting the anticipated target of hosting two million tourists by the year 2024.