Maldives records second best tourist arrivals in October for this year

Despite a slowdown in the global economy, the Maldives attracted 117,489 arrivals in October at a year-on-year (YoY) growth rate of 11.4 percent through increased European interest. This was the Indian Ocean archipelago’s second best performance so far in 2016, falling behind 120,639 tourist arrivals recorded in February and an 11.7 percent growth rate experienced in January. European arrivals in October grew at 16.9 percent YoY, the highest rate so far this year, with 55,368 arrivals. Germany proved to be the biggest tourism contributor from Europe, with 13,061 arrivals with a growth of 6.6 percent YoY. Despite the political and economic uncertainty surrounding the UK’s exit from the European Union, British arrivals to the Maldives grew by 18 percent YoY to 9,111 tourists.

Russian arrivals grew by 13.7 percent YoY to 4,387 tourists in the midst of predictions that the Russian economy will be returning to stable growth soon, while Italian arrivals grew by 33.7 percent YoY to 4,122 tourists and Swiss arrivals grew by 27.2 percent YoY to 4,502 tourists. Asia and the Pacific arrivals grew by 5.5 percent YoY to 54,560 tourists, after shedding tourist arrivals for most of the year due to a reversal in the Chinese market. Arrivals from China declined just 4.1 percent YoY—a nine-month best since last experiencing growth in January—falling to 29,444 tourists, while the momentum in the Indian market continued with a growth of 45.1 percent YoY to reach 6,301 tourists. Inbound travellers from Korea increased to 3,937, a 6.3 percent growth YoY, while Japanese arrivals were flat at 3,345 tourists, a 0.4 percent decline YoY. Arrivals from the Americas increased 21.5 percent YoY to 4,391 tourists, with the US market expanding 21.5 percent YoY to 2,716 arrivals just before the election of Trump. The 10 months so far saw the Maldives attracting 1.06 million visitors, growing at 3.6 percent YoY. Asia and the Pacific was the largest market, with 506,566 tourists, a 1.8 percent YoY decline, due to a 10.6 percent negative growth from China bringing in 289,123 tourists. European arrivals grew by 7.9 percent YoY to 462,534 tourists, with Germany regaining the lead from the UK with 87,684 arrivals, growing at 2.2 percent YoY, compared to 85,194 British tourists, which was a growth of 11.7 percent YoY. The average duration of stay so far in 2016 fell to 5.6 days from 5.7 days YoY, while accommodation occupancy rates fell to 68.6 percent from 69.7 percent YoY.