The number of Chinese tourist arrivals increased last month, which translated to a rise in tourism in the Maldives by 22%.
During the news conference conducted at the Ministry of Tourism, Minister of Tourism, Mr Ali Waheed stated that the new government has brought about exponential progress to the tourism industry. As such, the Maldives faced a 22% increase in tourist arrivals last month.
He further stated that, within the month of January, Maldives has faced an increase in progress by 6.5%.  This is an overall improvement of 15% in contrast to last year. He states that this is a good indicator of the overall economy.
According to the Tourism Minister, a total of 482,978 tourists had arrived at Maldives. He states that he is hopeful that the target of bringing 1.5 million tourists would be achieved, as the forecasts have shown this to be a positive indicator.
He further states that alongside a rise in the total number of tourists, the number of Chinese tourists has risen, with the number of Indian tourist arrivals increased by a significant amount.
When we examine the top five markets, the highest tier goes to China and Italy, with the values of Germany and India is extremely even. The Minister states that the friendly diplomatic ties with India have proven to be advantageous.