The tourism sector of Maldives continue to remain strong in the third quarter of 2019.
According to Maldives Monetary Authority's (MMA) Quarterly Economic Bulletin, Maldives tourism posted strong growth in arrival numbers.
As per the statistics updated by the central bank, tourist arrivals to Maldives grew by 10% in annual terms.
Thus, the total number of arrivals to the island nation in Q3-2019 was registered at 389,101.
Meanwhile bed-nights grew by 8%, though the average duration of stay dropped marginally.
According to statistics, the average duration of stay for Q3-2019 was at 6.1 days compared to 6.2 days in Q3-2018.
Based on these improvements, the tourism receipts for the quarter are estimated at USD613.9 million.
According to the bulletin, tourist arrivals to Maldives continues to be driven by strong domestic demand in the source markets coupled with increased air connectivity.
The surge in air connectivity comes as direct result of increased flight movements from major carriers to Maldives.
This in turn was attributed by the commencement of Blue Panorama airline in June 2019.
In addition, international flight movements for the quarter increased by 20% - which is an increase of over 1,000 flights compared to Q3-2018.
As for arrivals, Europe and Asia and the Pacific regions picked up on arrival figures giving push for overall increase in tourist arrivals.
Tourist arrivals from Europe recorded a 12% growth in review quarter while Asia and the Pacific recorded an 8% growth - coming directly from increased arrivals from source markets.
Asia and the Pacific region's arrival numbers improved greatly due to the staggering growth in Indian tourists to Maldives.
As per Tourism Ministry statistics, growth rate of India was observed at 99.9% for majority of 2019.
As for hospitality venues, tourist resorts in operation grew by 149 in Q3-2019 compared to 128 in Q3-2018.
Meanwhile, guesthouses in operation increased by 73 year-on-year putting the total operational guesthouse venues at 570 by Q3 end.
Thus improving the average operational bed capacity in the quarter by 5,991 and bringing the total to 47,880 - 14% increase in annual terms.
