Maldives Monetary Authority has revealed Maldivians travelling to obtain medical services have decreased in 2016 compared to the previous year, and further declined to 45% in 2017.
The Maldivians Travelling Abroad (MTA) survey 2017 published by Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) showed the most common purposes of travel cited by the survey respondents were medical and vacation. In this regard, Maldivians who travelled abroad for vacation increased from 27% in 2015 to 34% in 2016 and remained relatively unchanged in 2017.
Looking into details of the Maldivians travelling abroad for vacation, the top choice of destination among the Maldivian holidaymakers continued to be Sri Lanka, with 40% of travellers returning from that country. This was followed by Malaysia with a share of 20% in 2017.
Maldivian holidaymakers to Thailand increased substantially during 2017, making the country the third most popular country. The number of Maldivians travelling to India for vacation declined steadily over the past three years and was recorded as the fourth choice in 2017 with a share of 12%.
The South Asian and South-east Asian countries remained the most popular destinations among the Maldivian travellers, as per the survey result. With regard to leading countries, India and Sri Lanka continued to be the primary travel destinations with a combined total share of 67%. Maldivians travelling to obtain medical services decreased in 2016 compared to the previous year, and further declined to 45% in 2017. The most popular countries among Maldivians travelling to obtain medical services are India and Sri Lanka. While India accounted for 65% of the Maldivian medical travellers in 2017, a notable increase was recorded in 2017.
On the other hand, Maldivians travelling to Sri Lanka to obtain medical services gradually declined over the period and accounted for 26% in 2017. Meanwhile, Maldivian medical travellers to Thailand has been increasing although at a marginal pace.
Meanwhile, travellers for business and official purposes remained largely unchanged with just over 3% during the period. Respondents citing education and training as their purpose of travel decreased in 2016, followed by a slight upturn in 2017. The remaining passengers were classified as other, which is a residual category as the purpose of travel for these passengers could not be classified under a single broad category identified in the survey. However, the survey results show travellers for other purposes increased over the period.
The report published by MMA presents the findings of MTA survey 2017, coupled with analyses of MTA survey results for 2015 and 2016. The report mainly focuses on the purpose of travel, destination and expenditure of Maldivian travellers, according to the central bank.
The MTA survey is conducted primarily to aid in estimating travel expenditure of the Maldivians, which is one of the main components of the current account of the Balance of Payments (BOP) statistics. MMA said the MTA survey 2017 was conducted at the arrival hall of Velana International Airport spanning over 7 days during the peak season for Maldivian travellers.
All major flights carrying Maldivians during the survey period were targeted in the survey. Staff from various departments of MMA participated in the survey as enumerators.