India no more top tourist market for Maldives; ranks 5th behind China

New Delhi: For the first time since the COVID crisis, the number of Chinese tourists visiting the country surpassed the number of Indian tourists, Maldives trade data showed on Monday.

Following a diplomatic row with India earlier this month, only 10,685 Indian tourists visited Maldives this year till January 23.

From No. 1, India now fares at number 5, behind Russia, Italy, UK and China.

Earlier this month, Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu appealed to China to "intensify" efforts to send more tourists to his country, amid a spate of cancellation of reservations by Indian tourists.

Muizzu’s appeal for more Chinese tourists came amid a diplomatic row following the derogatory remarks by some Maldivian ministers against Prime Minister Narendra Modi after he posted a video of him on a pristine beach during his recent visit to Lakshadweep.

According to data released by the Maldives Tourism Ministry earlier, India has remained the largest tourist market for the country in 2023.

The highest number of visitors to the Maldives were from India, with 209,198 arrivals, followed by Russia in second place with 209,146 arrivals, and China in third place with 187,118 arrivals.

In 2022, India remained the top Maldives tourism market, with 240,000 arrivals. Russia followed closely in second place with 198,000 tourists, and Britain ranked third with over 177,000 arrivals.

Before COVID, China held the top spot with over 2.80 lakh tourists but is currently struggling to revive its domestic and foreign tourism due to a nearly four-year lockdown policy and the continued slowdown of its economy.

As a result, Chinese tourists who travelled abroad for holidays in millions before COVID-19 are now restricting themselves given the economic slowdown.