The Most Important Markets for the Maldives Tourism Industry

From newly elected Maldivian president Mohamed Muizzu planning for Indian military personnel to leave the island and government officials insulting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on X/Twitter due to a perceived slight to the trending hashtag #BoycottMaldives: The relationship between the two nations seems to have taken a downward turn over the last couple of months. As our chart based on data by the Maldives Ministry of Tourism shows, India has been the biggest source of tourist influx in the past year.

Between January 1 and December 31 of 2023, 209,198 Indians visited the smallest country in Asia, comprised of 26 atolls and situated 750 kilometers from the Indian coast. Russia is second in terms of tourist visits to the Muslim-majority island republic, followed by China. The latter climbing 27 spots compared to 2022 can be seen as one symptom of the deepening economic and political ties between the Maldives and the People's Republic. Other relevant origin countries for tourists visiting the atolls are the United Kingdom, Italy and Germany.

The online spat between the Indian and Maldivian netizens already seems to have a palpable impact on tourism. As vice president and global head of marketing at the India-based travel software company Rategain, Ankit Chaturvedi, told CNBC on Tuesday: "We are seeing a 40 percent drop in bookings over the last two days. Most people book on weekends, and therefore the drop seems more significant because ideally [bookings] should have gone up." Tourism is an integral part of the Maldivian economy. The sector makes up more than one quarter of the island nation's economy, followed by fishing and shipping.