Tourist arrivals in the Maldives increased 138 per cent in 2021 compared with 2020, with Indians accounting for the majority of the holidaymakers, state media citing data from the Ministry of Tourism reported.

State-owned PSM News said that the Maldives recorded 1.3 million tourist arrivals in 2021 compared to 55,494 in 2020.

The data from the Tourism Ministry showed that India was the largest source of tourists to Maldives in 2021, accounting for 22.1 per cent of all arrivals.

Russia and Britain accounted for 16.8 per cent and 7.2 per cent of arrivals, respectively.

Meanwhile, Senior Executive Director of the Ministry of Tourism Ali Razzan was quoted by PSM News as saying that the fifth Tourism Master Plan for the country will be drafted in three months.

The plan will reportedly focus on continuing recovery from the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Tourism accounts for over 28 per cent of the Maldives’ gross domestic product.

Source: IANS