The composition of major source markets of international visitors has
changed in recent years. The shift in market composition with Asian
demand gradually catching up with that of European demand can prove
to be healthy for the Maldives tourism market as the balance partially
negates the impact of seasonality and diversifies demand thus softening
the heavy impacts of a crisis in any one part of the world. The fastest
growing source markets in 2013 include Mainland China (+44.5% y-o-y),
South Korea (+26.6% y-o-y) and India (+19.8% y-o-y).
As the leading source market to the Maldives, Mainland China
comprises about 29.5% of total visitor arrivals to the country in
2013, which is almost three times that of the second leading source
market, Germany. Growth in the Mainland Chinese market has been
remarkably fast over the past few years growing from 60,666 in 2009 to
331,719 in 2013. As at YTD September 2014, Mainland Chinese arrivals
registered strong growth of 14.8% from the previous year and comprised
31.8% of total visitor arrivals to the Maldives.
The rapid growth of the key markets is mainly facilitated by the introduction
of new air routes and an increase in air capacity for existing routes. While
direct flights from Mainland China to the Maldives have been scarce or
non-existent in the past, there are now direct flight connections from
seven cities via five airlines, with Maldivian Airlines recently introducing
a once-weekly flight connection from Wuhan which began in June 2014.
The Maldives experiences higher visitor arrivals during the months of
October to April and lower volume during the monsoon season from June
to August. This is mostly due to a higher number of European travelling
during the winter. Yet with the growing significance of tourist arrivals from
Asia and especially from Mainland China, the Maldives tourism market
is experiencing fewer seasonal fluctuations as Chinese arrivals are now
filling traditional lull periods. Being a holiday destination, arrivals to the
Maldives tend to be largely driven by the holiday season in the respective
source countries. As a result, peak visitation months can be observed
in October during the UK half-term school breaks and Chinese Golden
Week, December and January during European and Russia Christmas
Holidays as well as in early February with Chinese New Year.
In its Fourth Tourism Master Plan 2012, the government has projected a
double-digit increase in international visitor arrivals for the ten-year period
to an estimated 2.5 million by 2021, more than double of the current
arrival figures achieved in 2013. The government is optimistic in achieving
this growth through a deeper partnership between the public and private
sectors of Maldives tourism.
The average length of stay recorded a decrease from 2002 to 2013,
mostly due to the increase in Asian travellers who tend to stay for shorter
periods due to shorter holiday seasons. Nevertheless, the Maldivian
government has projected a gradual increase during the projection period