Maldivian tourist arrivals up 7% in September

The Maldives attracted 101,909 tourists to the archipelago this September, recording the second highest year-on-year (YoY) growth rate of 6.7 percent after experiencing several months of slow growth.

The highest growth rate achieved so far was 11.7 percent, which was recorded in January.
Asia and the Pacific was the biggest market for the Maldives with 52,750 tourists, but grew at just 0.6 percent YoY. Chinese arrivals fell 9.2 percent YoY to 35,903 tourists, while Japanese arrivals fell by 10.9 percent YoY to 3,518 tourists. Indian arrivals grew 50.7 percent YoY to 5,009 tourists.
Arrivals from Europe increased 8.3 percent YoY to 36,958 tourists, even though the largest market Germany contracted 3.9 percent YoY to 7,826 tourists. British arrivals increased 14.7 percent YoY to 7,797 tourists despite a slowdown in the British economy due to Brexit.

Italian arrivals grew by 12.2 percent YoY to 3,172 tourists, while Russian arrivals grew by 29.5 percent YoY to 2,990 tourists.
Arrivals from the Amercias grew by 24.2 percent YoY to 4,251 tourists dominated by Amercia, while Saudi Arabian tourist arrivals boosted the Middle East market by 45.6 percent YoY to 6,802 tourists. Arrivals for the first nine months of 2016 increased by just 2.7 percent YoY to 944,544 tourists, with the Asia and the Pacific growth declining 2.6 percent YoY to 452,006 tourists due to a 11.3 percent YoY fall in the Chinese market with 259,679 tourists.
The European market grew by 6.8 percent YoY to 407,166 tourists, with the UK regaining the lead in the regional market with 76,083 tourists at a growth rate of 11 percent YoY, while the German market, which took the lead in 2013 grew by just 1.4 percent YoY to 74,623 tourists, coming in second.
Maldivian hospitality properties experienced a 68 percent occupancy rate for the first 9 months, down from 69.5 percent occupancy YoY, while the average duration of stay declined to 5.6 days from 5.7 days YoY.