Tourist arrivals from Central and Eastern Europe to the Maldives this year have increased by 136.8% compared to 2019.
The statistics from the Ministry of Tourism shows tourist arrivals from some countries significantly increased despite some markets showing declines due to the ongoing global pandemic. As such, 185,090 tourist arrivals were recorded from Central and Eastern Europe as of May 5 which is an increase of 136.8% compared to the same time frame of 2019.
The arrivals were recorded from Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Romania, Slovenia, Poland and Bulgaria among others in Central and Eastern Europe. Among those, the third most tourist arrivals to the Maldives in 2021 are from Ukraine with 22,265 arrivals recorded as of May 5. In 2019, about 5,000 tourist arrivals were recorded from Ukraine. Meanwhile, tourist arrivals from Kazakhstan recorded a significant increase with 16,092 this year, while about 2,011 arrivals were recorded in 2019.
According to the statistics of tourism ministry, so far this year 407,196 tourists have arrived in the country in 2021, which is recorded as a 39.6% decline compared to 2019, although it is a 6.4% increase compared to 2020.