TOURIST arrivals to the Maldives increased by almost 20 per cent in the first five months of 2010 compared to last year, according to the Tourism Ministry.
Department of Immigration figures show 338,582 visitors arrived in the Maldives between January and May, compared to 282,518 during the same period last year.
And arrivals are more than seven per cent higher than for the same period during the boom year of 2008. The total number of tourist arrivals in 2009, was 655,852 a drop of four per cent.
Abdullah Mausoom, director general of Maldives Tourism Promotion Board, said: “In early 2009 when we sat down to plan our strategy, we expected a double digit decline, like most destinations, however we saw only a four per cent decline in tourism arrivals into the country, less than the official projection of 5.9 per cent.
“We have been very fortunate and, having bounced back in the first quarter of 2010, it’s clear that tourism in the Maldives is very resilient because of the nature of the product we offer.”
The UK still tops the arrival countries list, making up more that 16 per cent of arrivals in 2009 and last year saw an increase in tourists from Finland, Portugal, Greece, France, Slovakia, Belgium, Romania, the Czech Republic and Poland.
From Asia, arrivals from China increased by 46 per cent, in addition to increases from Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore and Malaysia. Numbers were also up from the Middle East, with 13.3 per cent more travellers from the UAE and a 10.5 per cent increase from Saudi Arabia as well as 6.6 per cent from the US and 2.6 per cent from Canada.
With the steady improvement in tourist arrivals there are plans to open new resorts which are currently in various stages of development.
According to Mausoom: “Given our natural parameters of growth, we will never have miles and miles of extended beach and thousands of rooms to offer. We currently have 97 operating resorts (20,000 beds) and we do a periodic analysis of the demand and supply needs of the industry. This is done every year, with a five-year master plan. Our projections have been very good and, though we’ve had some setbacks with the financial crisis, we have regained our strength in most markets.
“When tourism bloomed in the 80s and 90s, it was based on different types of product offerings from mid-market to super-luxury resorts. This trend changed with resorts upgrading themselves to five-star luxury resorts creating a market aberration.
“The new government has decided to create diversity for the mid-market guests as well. We are concentrating on new developments and will be leasing out four islands for development to investors who are keen to develop this market segment.”
Traditionally Maldivian law provides for a lease rent on resorts and rents are set based on the number of beds. The new parliament is now considering legislation to change this to a land-area based-rent, instead of rooms. “This will give opportunities to investors to develop different categories of resorts and still achieve healthy profit margins,” said Mausoom.
“Another new initiative we are launching this year is to create the opportunity for unique private island experiences for guests in the Maldives, with private villa space, private access and uber-luxury holidays,” he added.