Statistics has shown most number of tourists arrived to Maldives from European countries this year. 107,620 tourists arrived to Maldives in September, raising the total tourist arrivals to 1,080,459 so far this year, according to statistics compiled from tourist facilities registered at Ministry of Tourism and Maldives Immigration.
Moreover, most number of tourist arrivals were from European countries with 47.8% of the total arrivals, according to statistics compiled until end of September. In this regard, 516,487 tourists arrived from Europe this year, which is an increase of 47.8% compared to the first 9 months of last year. Second most number of tourist arrivals to Maldives during this period was from the Asia Pacific, recording 462,828 tourists, which is 41.5% of the total arrivals. This is recorded as an increase of 2.1% compared to the first 9 months of last year.
Meanwhile, America with 49,000 tourists, attaining 4.5% of the total arrivals, is recorded as the third most tourist arriving region. Moreover, 41,186 tourists arrived from Middle East and 10,820 tourists arrived from Africa, recording 3.8% and 1% of the total arrivals respectively.
When highlighting separate markets, top 10 highest markets which recorded the most number of arrivals were China with 20.6%, England with 7.7%, Germany with 7.4%, Italy with 6.8%, India with 5.2%, Russia with 4.7%, France with 3.4%, USA with 2.8%, Japan with 2.8% and Australia with 2.6%, according to the statistics.
From these markets, even though the tourist arrivals from China were slightly decreased, other markets experienced an increase in the arrivals. Furthermore, until September 2018, while 43,356 beds were registered at the tourism ministry, 42,091 beds were operated with the total bed nights spent in Maldives by tourists increasing to 11.8%.