Statistics released by the Ministry of Tourism has shown that over 700 new beds were added to the country’s tourism sector so far this year, bringing the total bed capacity to over 64,000.

Statistics show that the sector expanded significantly over the past one year as well, as the total bed capacity by the end of last year stood at 63,248. The latest addition of 785 beds brought it to 64,033.

As of now, beds in the tourism sector are distributed as follows:

Resorts : 44,047 beds

Hotels: 2,310

Guest Houses: 14,514

Liveboard Vessels :  3,162

Looking at the tourist facilities operational at present, there are

175 resorts, 16 Hotels, 853 guest houses, and 159 Liveaboard Vessels,

a total of 1,203 operational facilities.

While there has been an increase in the number of tourist beds included into the system so far this year, there has also been a significant increase in the number of daily tourist arrivals. As such, up-to 1,043,082 arrivals were recorded so far this year which is a 9.1 percent increase from last year, as 956,360 arrivals were recorded in the corresponding period last year.

Statistics also show that over 700,000 tourists stayed at resorts, while over 200,000 selected guest houses for their stay, and 29,000 stayed at hotels, with over 24,000 staying onboard safari vessels.

Two million tourist arrivals were recorded by the end of last year, following which the government set a target of 2.3 million arrivals for this year. Already the country has received the one millionth tourist. The target was reached on the 7th of this month.

Giving an update on the tourism sector and the ongoing initiatives of the Ministry of Tourism earlier this year, Minister of Tourism Thoriq Ibrahim highlighted on the ministry’s focus on addressing project delays and improving overall coordination in the development of tourism infrastructure.

And he announced  that 156 locations are currently under development for tourism across the Maldives, with 1,290 new beds expected to be added to the market this year.

According to Thoriq, 65 resorts are currently operated under Maldivian brands, while 110 are managed by international operators. Out of the 156 sites being developed for tourism purposes, 61 projects have experienced delays due to various reasons.

The ministry is exploring options to address the issues causing delays and resume development work where possible, the minister stated.