Russia Becomes Top Tourist Market to Maldives, Surpassing China

Russia has overtaken China as the leading source of tourists to the Maldives, recording the highest arrivals from a single country so far this year.

According to statistics released by the Tourism Ministry, the Maldives has welcomed 149,447 tourist arrivals as of 21 January, up from 139,682 during the same period last year, marking a seven per cent increase.

Russia leads the market with 21,798 arrivals, followed by Italy with 16,261 and the United Kingdom with 13,147 arrivals. China, which was the top source market last year, is currently fourth with 10,924 arrivals. Germany and India, which saw strong post-pandemic recovery in tourist numbers, rank fifth and sixth respectively.

The Maldives currently has 68,915 operational beds across 186 resorts, 976 guesthouses, 16 hotels and 173 tourist vessels.

Last year, the Maldives recorded 2.25 million tourist arrivals, slightly below the government’s target of 2.3 million. Authorities have set a target of 2.4 million tourists for 2026.