Ministry of Tourism has revealed that China is in the top 10 tourism markets for the Maldives. Tourists from China started visiting the Maldives on January 18 after the COVID-19 outbreak.
According to the latest statistics published by the tourism ministry, a total of 2,339 tourist arrivals from China visited the Maldives as of January 21. The Chinese market has now moved up to ninth out of the top 10 markets in five days. Minister of Tourism Dr. Abdulla Mausoom said that Chinese tourists will be among the top three markets in the future.
A total of 115,177 tourists have also visited the Maldives so far this year which is an increase of 28.9% compared to 89,369 tourists during the same period in 2022, according to the tourism ministry. The statistics reveal that the largest number of tourist arrivals to the Maldives so far this year was from Russia with a total of 16,974 tourists as of January 21.
China was the top source market for tourist arrivals in the Maldives before the COVID-19 outbreak. According to the tourism ministry, 284,029 tourists arrived in the Maldives from China in 2019. However, tourists from China have not visited the Maldives in the past three years due to the country's travel measures. As such, China's first flight with 198 tourists arrived following the easing of measures to control the spread of COVID-19. The tourists arrived on Beijing Capital Airlines.
China is also resuming group flights to a total of 20 countries. In addition, China is scheduling two more airlines to the Maldives. They are China Eastern Airlines and Hong Kong Airlines. China Eastern Airlines will operate flights from January 28 to March 25. The flights will be operated from Shanghai Pudong International Airport to Velana International Airport (VIA). The airline will use 232-seat aircraft during these flights and operate one flight per week. Meanwhile, Hong Kong Airlines will start flights to the Maldives in January and the flights will continue until March 23. The airline will operate three flights a week from Hong Kong International Airport to VIA. The airline will use 292-seat aircraft during these flights.
The government aims to attract 1.8 million tourists this year. However, the government believes that this figure is likely to change as Chinese tourists start visiting the Maldives again after the outbreak.