- Maldives welcomed 190,774 tourists in October, just 0.2 per cent above last year but 28.2 per cent higher than September.
- The year-to-date shortfall barely narrowed, with arrivals of 1.76 million still down 3.5 per cent on 2025.
- Total visitors rose 0.9 per cent, driven mainly by 1,478 cruise passengers, though business arrivals declined.
The Maldives welcomed 190,774 tourists in October, a sharp increase from September but barely above the same month last year, leaving the country’s annual arrivals shortfall largely unchanged.
Figures from the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation show that October arrivals increased by just 329 tourists, or 0.2 per cent, compared with the 190,445 recorded in October 2025. Against September’s 148,801 arrivals, however, the monthly total rose by 28.2 per cent.
That increase brought substantially more visitors into the country as the year moved towards its final months. Daily tourist arrivals averaged 6,154 in October, compared with approximately 4,960 in September. Adjusting for October’s additional day, the daily arrival rate increased by 24.1 per cent.
The improvement from September was broadly consistent with the pattern seen in the previous two years. Tourist arrivals rose by 27.3 per cent between September and October in 2025 and by 30 per cent over the same period in 2024. This suggests October’s stronger activity largely reflected the usual seasonal increase, while demand remained close to last year’s level.
Compared with October 2024, when the Maldives received 172,621 tourists, this year’s total was 10.5 per cent higher. The longer comparison shows that October arrivals have expanded over two years, although growth slowed considerably in 2026.
The distinction between tourists and total international visitors also matters when assessing the month’s performance. Including business arrivals and cruise passengers, the Maldives received 194,039 visitors in October, an increase of 0.9 per cent from a year earlier.
Most of that increase came from cruise passengers. October recorded 1,478 cruise arrivals, compared with none in October 2025, while business arrivals fell from 1,953 to 1,787. The broader visitor growth rate therefore exceeded the increase in tourist arrivals.
October’s near-flat performance also did little to close the gap accumulated earlier in the year. Tourist arrivals reached 1,762,751 during the first ten months of 2026, down 3.5 per cent from 1,826,934 in the corresponding period last year.
The country entered October trailing the previous year’s tourist total by 64,512. By the end of the month, that gap had narrowed by only 329, to 64,183. Matching last October’s performance helped prevent the shortfall from widening, but did not materially reverse it.
For tourism businesses, October brought a clear increase in visitor volumes compared with September. Against the more meaningful comparison with the same month last year, however, the figures show stability rather than substantial expansion. Whether that translated into stronger commercial performance would require separate figures on occupancy, length of stay, room rates and spending.
