A total of 300,469 tourists who visited the Maldives so far this year have stayed in guesthouses, according to statistics from the Ministry of Tourism.

The ministry’s latest figures show that 1,379,151 tourists have arrived in the Maldives so far this year. This is a 3.9% decline compared to the 1,435,661 tourists who arrived during the same period last year. Of these, 992,462 tourists stayed at resorts, 31,723 at hotels, and 25,207 on safari vessels (liveaboards).

China remains the largest source market for tourists visiting the Maldives, with 250,437 arrivals, followed by Russia with 198,748 and the United Kingdom with 105,785.

As the government undertakes special efforts to expand the guesthouse business throughout the Maldives, guesthouses are currently operating on 116 islands across 20 atolls. These guesthouses have added 17,188 beds to the tourism sector.