Ambassador of the Maldives to Japan Hassan Sobir has held discussions with the Japan Association of Travel Agents (JATA) on boosting tourist arrivals to the Maldives from Japan. He held the discussions during a meeting held with President of JATA Tadashi Shimura.
During the meeting, the Maldivian ambassador and the JATA president discussed ways to boost the growth of the Japanese market, and matters pertaining to the tourism development and promotion. The Maldives is already a popular travel destination for Japanese citizens, but the market is still small compared to the tourist arrivals from other countries.
Statistics from the Ministry of Tourism shows that the number of tourist arrivals from Japan was higher in the first six months of this year compared to the same period in 2021. As such, a total of 1,699 tourists visited the Maldives from Japan in the first six months of this year, which is a 470% increase compared to the 298 tourist arrivals in the same period last year.
Statistics of the tourism ministry showed that a total of 813,211 tourists visited the Maldives in the first six months of this year. Japan contributed 0.2% of the arrivals.