How The Month of January is Faring For the Maldives Tourism

Wednesday 25th of January 2023

The month of January is heading very bright for the pearls of the Indian Ocean, with new records and welcomes lining the month. The Chinese market is back in the sunny isles after a three-year hiatus and has already entered the top source markets in just under a week’s time. The market currently resides in the 8th position after seeing arrival numbers flourish to 2,727 as of 22nd January 2023. Direct flights from China recommenced on the 18th of this month with Beijing Capital Airlines.

Other Asian markets listed in the top 10 charts include an all-new market, Kazakhstan and last year’s no.9 South Korea. India has fallen from its top position to third place while Russia now takes on the no. 1 title with over 17,600 arrivals so far into the year. Other traditional markets are also scattered across the charts including Italy (2nd), the United Kingdom (4th), Germany (5th), the United States (6th) and France (7th).

Maldives is also closing in on last year’s January milestone which was 131,764. Currently, numbers are at 122,186 (as of 22nd January 2023) but are expected to draw level with a week left in January. The government of Maldives has forecasted a 10% increase in annual tourist arrivals this year due to the re-emergence of other markets and has set the target at 1.8 million tourists.

One of the contributing markets for the increment is undoubtedly China, which delivered 284,029 tourists in 2019 before its international borders were closed due to the pandemic. This accounted for 16.7% of the market share back then and given the travel demands this month, is expected to be a promising market for the Maldives this year as well.