Half a million tourists visit Maldives in Q1

Around half a million tourists have visited the Maldives in the first quarter of this year. Chinese tourists contributed to the growth in arrivals.

A total of 539,816 travelers arrived between January and April, registering a 12.7 per cent increase from last year’s 478,827 tourists who arrived during the same period.

According to statistics released, a total of 87,632 Chinese travelers have visited Maldives between January and April, which is up 16 per cent, followed by Italy which saw a 9 per cent growth, both Britain and Germany with a 8 per cent growth and Russia with a 6 per cent growth.

The Maldives government last week said it has planned a number of events to promote the destination globally and increase the number of tourist arrivals in 2018.

Maldives welcomed a record 1.3 million tourists last year after the government fell short of reaching a target of 1.5 million during the past two years.