According to the latest data from the Ministry of Tourism of the Maldives, more than 180,000 Russians have traveled the Indian Ocean archipelago state in South Asia since the beginning of the year.
Visitors from Russia made up some 11.5% of the total foreign tourist flow to the tropical island country.
According to the Ministry of Tourism Maldives, Russian nationals are not required to have any additional documents, except their “foreign” passport (citizens of Russia are also required to have “domestic” passports for use within the borders of the Russian Federation) to travel to the Maldives, and can stay in the country visa-free for 90 days.
The second largest foreign tourists to the Maldives came from India, which accounted for just over 168,000 visitors or 10.8% of the total. China closed off the top three with 166,430 arrivals. The islands were also popular with people from the UK, the US, Germany, Italy, France, Spain and Switzerland.
According to Tourist Ministry statistics, the Maldives received a total of 1.56 million visitors from abroad in the first ten months of 2023, a 12.8% increase from the same period last year. It is expected that 1.9 million tourists will visit the islands by the end of the year. On average, some 5,000 come to the country every day. President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has said the Maldives plans to boost the tourist flow to 3.5 million annually by 2028.
The Maldives is famous for its white sandy beaches, turquoise waters and unique underwater marine life. According to IPK International’s World Travel Monitor on global outbound travel trends, the country was the most popular travel destination in 2022.
