The Tourism Ministry says more than 189, 400 tourists have arrived from China this year as the South Eastern country cements itself as the top market in the Maldives.
The Ministry's latest weekly update on tourist arrival said that 1,315,320 tourists have arrived in the country in 2024 as of 21st August. It noted that this was a 10.5 percent growth compared to 2023 as 1,190, 856 tourists arrived by the 21st of August 2023.
In 2022, the arrival by August was recorded at around 1,045,192.
Tourism Ministry also revealed that China has cemented back itself as the top tourist market for the Maldives with 189,470 arrivals in 2024. This accounts for 14.4 percent of the tourist arrivals in the country.
In 2023, China was at 3rd rank in the list of top 10 markets.
Meanwhile, Russia maintained its 2nd rank from 2023 with a total arrival of 142,120 tourists from Russia visiting the Maldives this year.
The UK, Italy, and Germany will be the top 5 tourist markets for 2024.
India, last year's top market, has dropped down to 6th rank with just 78,307 tourist arrivals so far this year.
