Chinese visitor arrival climbs to seventh place
By the end of January 2023, Chinese visitors had already marked 1.9 percent of the arrivals with 2,354 arrivals within the first few days.
The Maldives, a chain of nearly 1,200 islands in the Indian Ocean, has long been a popular destination for tourists seeking sun, sand, and sea. In recent years, however, the Maldives has seen a surge in Chinese visitors, with China now ranking as the seventh biggest source market for Maldives tourism.
The Maldives saw a drastic drop in the number of Chinese visitor following the COVID-19 pandemic as China implemented heavy SOPs, only fully opening their borders at the start of 2023. However, following the lifting of the heavy restrictions and the border re-opening, Maldives seeing flow of Chinese visitors were yet again, as two Chinese airlines soon started conducting direct flights between the two countries.
Right before the pandemic, Chinese visitors accounted for nearly 16 percent of all tourist arrivals, with the tourism industry at the time heavily depending on these arrivals. Even through out the pandemic and closed borders, the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) heavily focused on increasing its visibility in the Chinese market through several tourism fairs in China.
With the Chinese visitors yet again arriving in the Maldives starting 18th January 2023, many expected the visitor market to mark their place, just as it was pre-pandemic. And the Chinese visitors did not disappoint, as it is evident at the Velana International Airport arrivals, soon marking their spot on the top 10 market for highest arrivals.
By the end of January 2023, Chinese visitors had already marked 1.9 percent of the arrivals with 2,354 arrivals within the first few days. Between January and April, the Maldives has already received 27,700 visitors, pushing the Chinese visitor arrivals to the seventh spot. According to the Tourism Ministry of Maldives this is a 19.6 percent increase relative to 2021.
