The Maldives, famous for its pristine white beaches and blue ocean, continues to be a popular tourist destination since the restart of tourism.
The 1,200-island nation reopened its borders in July with no testing or quarantine mandates, then changed course in September to require negative Covid-19 test results for all incoming travelers (96 hours before departure). An online Traveler Health Declaration form also needs to be completed 24 hours before take-off.
Maldives’ tourism industry enjoyed a successful year in 2019 as visitor arrivals grew by 14.7% (year on year), with total arrivals reaching a record 1.7 million. Before COVID-19, the industry expects to welcome 2 million tourists in 2020.
Since the resumption of tourism, on December 19, Maldives recorded the highest number of tourist arrivals on a single-day with 4,567 entries. On 20th December 2020, it made a new record of over 5,555 daily tourist arrivals.
The Maldives has recently welcomed the 100,000th tourist since border reopening, as well as the 500,000th tourist for the year.
As per the markets, looking at the total arrivals after border reopening, Russia remains the top with 23,226 tourists. This is followed by India with 18,758 tourists. The United Kingdom has jumped to the third position with 12,372 with the USA at number fourth with 6,715. Other top source markets after the border reopening include the United Arab Emirates, Germany, Ukraine, France, Spain, and Brazil.
Looking to the future, the tourism industry seems to be improving gradually. It is estimated that with such developments in place, Maldives will reach its peak tourist arrival rates and greet 1.5 million tourists in 2021.
