The Maldives has announced an 18.7% increase in UK visitor arrivals when comparing November 2017 with the same month in 2016.
In total, 9,579 UK visitors travelled to the Maldives during the month, up from 8,073 a year earlier.
UK tourists represented 7.9% of all visitors to the Maldives in November, contributing to the 94,258 UK visitors who travelled to the Maldives in the first 11 months of 2017, a 1.1% year-on-year increase on 2016.
The island nation witnessed a year-on-year growth of 15.2% in global arrivals in November 2017, with 120,506 international tourists visiting the Maldives during the month. The total number of arrivals to the Maldives in 2017 stood at 1,246,502 by the end of November and increased by 6.8% when compared with the same period in 2016. The UK represents 7.6% of total visitors to the Maldives.
In the Maldives in 2018, the recently rebranded Velana International Airport is to complete its expansion plans and the China-Maldives Friendship Bridge is to open in July.
Mohamed Anil, the Maldives’ attorney general, said: “This is a very exciting time for the Maldives with a number of key infrastructure developments taking place during 2018 and beyond, which will benefit both tourists and the local community. Our tourism industry is continuing to expand and with 10 new hotel resorts opening during the next few years, we look forward to being able to accommodate even more visitors from overseas.”