MALE, The Maldives, 18 January 2021: The Maldives welcomed 40,000 tourists during the first two weeks of January 2021 according to the Ministry of Tourism statistics available online.
First reported in an online post by Raajje TV, the ministry stated tourist arrivals had clocked 40,426 up 47.9% when compared with the first two weeks of 2019.
It claimed the daily average stood at 2.888 tourists and that arrivals peaked at 4,195 tourists on 3 January. Russia was the top source market, followed by India.
Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Romania, the UK, France and Germany are also considered some of the biggest tourist markets for the Maldives, along with America and Switzerland.
In contrast, a Bloomberg report focusing on the performance of Thailand’s “Special Tourist Visa” project that focuses on long-stay tourists and includes a 14-day quarantine measure has fallen short of expectations. It attracted a monthly average of 346 foreign tourists since it was introduced in October 2019. The STV was supposed to facilitate wealthy tourists who could afford to escape the European winter and stay in Thailand for up to nine months.
Thailand’s Longstay Company that manages the programme targetted 1,200 visitors who were supposed to buy a luxury quarantine stay in a five-star hotel in Thailand before being allowed to travel freely in the country. Back to the drawing board?
