Maldives Needs 14% More Visitors for Rest of Year to Match 2025 Record
The Tourism Ministry counted 1.81 million visitors by 3 November, 3.0% fewer than a year earlier. The shortfall dates from March and April, which the World Bank linked to airspace closures and flight cancellations during the Middle East conflict.
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The Maldives received 1,814,753 visitors between 1 January and 3 November, 3.0% fewer than the 1,871,813 recorded by the same date in 2025, according to the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation's daily update published on 4 November.
Last year the country received 2,275,088 visitors, the highest annual total on record. To match it, 460,335 more visitors would have to arrive between 4 November and 31 December. In the same weeks of 2025, 403,275 came. Arrivals would therefore need to run about 14% higher than last year for the rest of 2026.
Tourists made up 1,780,444 of this year's visitors, 3.6% fewer than a year earlier. The ministry counts business visitors and cruise passengers separately.
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The year started ahead of 2025. Total arrivals rose 5.0% in January and 17.7% in February, when 254,556 visitors came. They then fell 19.8% in March and 24.4% in April.
In its Maldives Development Update of 11 June, the World Bank said arrivals fell in those two months "due to disruptions linked to the conflict in the Middle East, including airspace closures and flight cancellations". In April, the Asian Development Bank said it expected arrivals to rise in 2026, though more slowly than they would have without the conflict.
June was 12.0% lower than a year earlier. Since then, each month has been within about 2% of last year.
| Month | 2025 | 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 216,544 | 227,403 | +5.0% |
| February | 216,309 | 254,556 | +17.7% |
| March | 207,707 | 166,616 | −19.8% |
| April | 202,214 | 152,861 | −24.4% |
| May | 140,211 | 142,555 | +1.7% |
| June | 143,099 | 125,891 | −12.0% |
| July | 188,304 | 184,735 | −1.9% |
| August | 193,529 | 197,640 | +2.1% |
| September | 151,114 | 150,764 | −0.2% |
| October | 192,398 | 194,039 | +0.9% |
| 1–3 November | 20,384 | 17,693 | −13.2% |
The gap for the year has narrowed from 3.4% on 14 October, as Maldives Today reported, and 3.2% on 21 October.
China remains the largest market, with 333,242 tourists, or 18.7% of the total. Russia follows with 259,961 (14.6%), then the United Kingdom with 137,468 (7.7%), Germany with 121,557 (6.8%), Italy with 106,700 (6.0%) and India with 103,108 (5.8%). Australia is seventh, with 42,220 tourists; it was eleventh in the ministry's 2025 ranking. The United States, seventh in 2025, is eighth.
Resorts accommodated 74.0% of tourists and guesthouses 21.7%. Velana International Airport handled 97.9% of all visitor arrivals.
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Visit Maldives Corporation, the state tourism promotion agency, launched "Visit Maldives Year 2027" at World Travel Market London on 3 November, it said that day. The trade fair runs at ExCeL London until 5 November.
According to the agency, President Mohamed Muizzu designated 2027 as Visit Maldives Year in his 2026 address at the opening of the People's Majlis. The agency describes it as a year of resort events, island festivals, and cultural, culinary, wellness, adventure and marine experiences, under the theme "Celebrate the Sunny Side". It said the Maldives sent 161 representatives to the fair, including 136 people from 62 tourism companies.
The agency's own figures put tourist arrivals from January to October at 1,762,751, with Europe accounting for 56.9%.
The ministry recorded 68,054 beds in operation on 3 November, 45,171 of them in 180 resorts. The 2025 total of 2,275,088 visitors was up from 2,074,442 in 2024.
