Despite the absence of visitors from China, the Maldives has received over 1.5 million holidaymakers, bouncing back to pre-COVID levels.

Maldivian Tourism Ministry said over 1.52 million tourists were welcomed as of 7 December, largely boosted by Indian travellers.

The set target for tourist arrivals by the island nation for the year is 1.6 million.

As per the monthly statistics, India ranked top source market with 209,725 travellers reflecting 14% of total arrivals in November, followed by Russia, the UK, Germany and Italy.

It also showed that the daily arrival average at 4,465 as of 30 November, whilst the average stay is eight days.

In 2019, Maldives received a total of 1.70 million tourists, whilst 16.7% was driven by Chinese travellers.

China was the top source market for the Maldives from 2010 to 2019.

In 2020, total arrivals to the Maldives dropped significantly to 555,494 as a result of the COVID pandemic and it recovered gradually to 1.32 million last year.

Tourism kicks off December on a high