Minister of Tourism, Moosa Zameer has said that the local tourism industry faced many difficulties and obstacles in 2016, highlighting that the terror attacks across the globe decreased the number of visitors to Maldives.
BREXIT and other economical slides in Europe played its part in the decrease of tourist arrivals in 2016, according to Minister Zameer. The crisis in the Middle East and the campaign calling to boycott local tourism by the opposition parties were also factors in the decrease in profits for the year, he further added.
Statistics show that the Maldivian tourism industry even with the difficulties faced in 2016 generated $2.14 billion, a figure that is $87.8 million less compared to the previous year. Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA) collected $256.9 million from the Tourism Industry as TGST for 2016, according to the statistics.
The government has been working to improve the country's biggest industry by investing a billion dollars to develop Velana International Airport. With the completion of the Velana International Airport Development Project, it is expected to serve 7.5 million visitors per year which would increase the tourism industry's annual income from $2 billion to $8 billion.
1.28 million tourists visited Maldives in 2016, according to the Ministry of Tourism.