Russian tourist flow to the Maldives decreased by 12,3% in the summer

Since June, Maldives border statistics has recorded a decline of the volume of Russian tourist traffic compared to last year. In August, the number of arrivals of Russians decreased by almost 20%.

According to the Immigration Department of the Maldives, for 8 months of 2023 (January-August), 145 971 Russian citizens came to the islands. So, in January-August, Russia was the second largest entry market for the Maldives, after India. The share of Russians in the total tourist flow to the islands (over 1,2 million visits by foreigners for 8 months) is 11,8%.

Compared to the same period in 2022, the Russian tourist flow to the Maldives increased by 16,6% in January-August 2023. However, this “growth” is misleading. It is explained solely by the recession in the volume of tourist flow to the Maldives in March-May 2022.

But all the other months of 2023, with the exception of these three, show a slight decrease in the number of Russian visits to the Maldives compared to the same months of 2022.

There are two main reasons for this: the redistribution of demand to other destinations in the Indian Ocean, as well as updating prices in the Maldivian resorts.

“Last year tourists in most cases chose between Turkey, the UAE and the Maldives, and this was reflected in the unprecedented figures of the tourist flow to the Maldives. This year, we see that tourists are refocusing on accessible Bali, Seychelles, Sri Lanka and other destinations,” the Space Travel press service said.