China becomes 9th top tourist source market in less than a week
In the near future, Chinese tourists are expected to account for 10% of the total arrivals in the Maldives.
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By
Mariyam Umna Ismail
China has been ranked ninth in the list of countries with the highest number of tourist arrivals to the Maldives within just five days of the resumption of tourist arrivals from the market after the Covid-19 pandemic.
China began encouraging its citizens to go for vacations outside the country after the country declared that the Covid situation in the country had improved and the country had returned to 'normal'. After a gap of nearly three years, Chinese tourists started arriving in Maldives on Wednesday.
According to statistics released by the tourism ministry on Sunday, out of the 115,177 tourists who visited the Maldives so far this year:
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2,239 tourists are Chinese
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That is 1.9% of the total tourist arrivals
Currently, the countries with the highest number of tourists coming to the Maldives are:
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1-
Russia - 16,974 tourists
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2-
Italy - 11,764 tourists
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3-
India - 11,164 tourists
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4-
UK - 9,507 tourists
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5-
Germany - 6,731 tourists
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6-
US - 5,455 tourists
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7-
France - 4,064 tourists
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8-
Kazakhstan - 2,354 tourists
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9-
China - 2,239 tourists
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10-
South Korea - 2,137 tourists
Travel agents' body MATATO has said that the arrival of Chinese tourists will boost the number of tourists coming to the Maldives. In the near future, Chinese tourists are expected to account for 10% of the total arrivals in the Maldives, it said.
Prior to Covid, China was the single biggest source market for Maldives tourism.
