According to the tour operator Space Travel, the demand for tours to the Maldives in August is 20% higher than in June and July, despite the weakening ruble. If this trend continues, more than 50 000 Russians may visit the islands over the summer, and August statistics may catch up with last year's figures.
One of the reasons for the growing interest in the exotic destination is the expansion of Aeroflot flight program: now tourists can fly to the Maldives from Moscow on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
The depth of sales has also increased: now hotels in the Maldives are booked for October and November, there are also orders for the New Year's tours.
“Interest for the Maldives in the last month of summer is explained not only by a comfortable flight, convenient schedule, but also by the still quite reasonable cost of air tickets compared to the price for the same destination from other foreign airlines,” the representatives of the tour operator are sure.
However, the Russian tourist flow to the Maldives has not yet reached the values of last year. So, in July 2023, it turned out to be 10% lower than a year earlier (17,7 thousand people against 19,6 thousand). Moreover, the difference is aggravated: in June it was only 5% (14,6 thousand people against 15,3 thousand people.).
But if the dynamics, indicated by Space Travel, really continue, then in August the Russian tourist flow to the Maldives has a chance to reach the last year's figures, when it amounted to 21,7 thousand people.
At the same time, despite the fact that Russia has lost the status of the first entry market for the Maldives (having lost its leading position to China), it continues to occupy the second place ahead of India.
