Tourist arrivals in the Maldives increased 138 per cent in 2021 compared with 2020, with Indians accounting for the majority of the holidaymakers, the Ministry of Tourism in the country said. State-owned PSM News said the Maldives recorded 1.3 million tourist arrivals in 2021 compared to 55,494 in 2020.

The date 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 Ministry of Tourism Ali Razzan has said 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.