Chinese arrivals boost Maldives tourist numbers

The Maldives witnessed a 6 percent growth in tourist arrivals in March helped by the steady increase in Chinese arrivals, latest data showed on Friday.

A total of 105,560 guests visited the Maldives in March, according to the Maldives Monetary Authority's monthly economic review.

"The annual increase was due to the rise in the number of arrivals from China which offset the decline in arrivals from Europe," said the Central Bank's monthly update.

The Tourism Ministry said tourist arrivals in the first quarter of 2014 increased 9.7 percent from a year earlier to a total of 321,561.

According to the Tourism Ministry, the Chinese market expanded by 24 percent with an additional 16,960 tourists compared with the same period of 2013.

Ministry statistics show that 331,719 Chinese tourists visited the Maldives last year, which was a 44.5 percent increase from the previous year.

Chinese tourists accounted for 29.5 percent of all tourist arrivals to the Maldives in 2013.

Europe retained the largest market share, accounting for of 51. 3 percent of all arrivals. A total of 321,561 European tourists visited the Indian Ocean island country in the first quarter of the 2014, the Tourism Ministry said.

Asia and the Pacific recorded a growth of 24.4 percent in the first quarter this year, bringing in an additional 26,606 tourists.

The region accounted for 42.2 percent of arrivals to the Maldives in the three-month period.

The Maldivian economy is largely dependent on tourism, which accounted for 28 percent of the country's GDP on average in the past five years, and generated 38 percent of the government revenue in 2012.