{"id":16607,"date":"2026-02-23T20:01:31","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T15:01:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/?p=16607"},"modified":"2026-02-23T20:02:58","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T15:02:58","slug":"maldives-attracts-over-400000-tourists-so-far-in-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/?p=16607","title":{"rendered":"Maldives attracts over 400,000 tourists so far in 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>According to the latest statistics from the Ministry of Tourism, tourist arrivals to the Maldives so far this year has surpassed 400,000.<\/p>\n<p>This represents a significant growth compared to the corresponding period last year.<\/p>\n<p>As per the data from the ministry, Maldives has welcomed a total of 418,034 tourists as of February 21, 2026. This is a 9.5% increment compared to the 381,870 arrivals recording during the same period in the previous year.<\/p>\n<p>The tourism ministry data also reveals that the country currently sees an average daily influx of approximately 8000 visitors.<\/p>\n<p>In terms of accommodation preferences, resorts remain the most popular choice among visitors, hosting 283,272 tourists. Meanwhile, guesthouses welcomed 111,390 visitors during this period.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, the ministry&#8217;s records show that 12,021 tourists stayed in hotels, while 8,473 visitors opted for safaris or tourist vessels. Moreover, 2,878 guests arrived via other means, including cruise liners.<\/p>\n<p>Top Tourist Markets:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>China: 67,185<\/li>\n<li>Russia: 46,636<\/li>\n<li>Italy: 40,345<\/li>\n<li>UK: 38,162<\/li>\n<li>Germany: 24,980<\/li>\n<li>India and France: 14,770<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The Maldives government is aiming on attracting 2.5 million travelers in 2026, which based on current data, appears to be a strong possibility.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>According to the latest statistics from the Ministry of Tourism, tourist arrivals to the Maldives so far this year has surpassed 400,000. This represents a significant growth compared to the corresponding period last year. As per the data from the ministry, Maldives has welcomed a total of 418,034 tourists as of February 21, 2026. This<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":16208,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2508,2425,2464,2506,2507,2429],"tags":[3199,1356,1496,2126,2159],"class_list":{"0":"post-16607","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-latest-news","8":"category-lifestyle","9":"category-local-news","10":"category-top-stories-block","11":"category-top-stories-featured-area","12":"category-tourism","13":"tag-hospitality","14":"tag-maldives-tourism","15":"tag-ministry-of-tourism","16":"tag-tourist-arrivals","17":"tag-travel-and-tourism"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Maldives attracts over 400,000 tourists so far in 2026 - Maldives Business Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/?p=16607\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Maldives attracts over 400,000 tourists so far in 2026 - Maldives Business Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"According to the latest statistics from the Ministry of Tourism, tourist arrivals to the Maldives so far this year has surpassed 400,000. This represents a significant growth compared to the corresponding period last year. As per the data from the ministry, Maldives has welcomed a total of 418,034 tourists as of February 21, 2026. This\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/?p=16607\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Maldives Business Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/mvbiztimes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-23T15:01:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-23T15:02:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Halal-Tourism.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"700\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mohamed Reehaan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@mvbiztimes\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@mvbiztimes\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mohamed Reehaan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/?p=16607#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/?p=16607\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Mohamed Reehaan\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/#\/schema\/person\/a0eedc1134716e7c8e4da095494670c2\"},\"headline\":\"Maldives attracts over 400,000 tourists so far in 2026\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-23T15:01:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-23T15:02:58+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/?p=16607\"},\"wordCount\":174,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/?p=16607#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Halal-Tourism.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Hospitality\",\"Maldives Tourism\",\"Ministry of Tourism\",\"tourist arrivals\",\"Travel and Tourism\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Latest News\",\"LIFSTYLE\",\"Local News\",\"TOP STORIES - 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