The Maldives welcomed 55,983 tourist arrivals to the islands in April 2006 - the highest recorded number of tourist arrivals in the month of April since the commencement of the country's tourism industry thirty three years ago.

This is also the first time that the number of arrivals in April has exceeded arrivals of March, thus reflecting favourable changes in the traditional high season which is expected to end in April.

Arrival numbers to the Maldives from all generating markets have been positive so far this year, indicating an impressive recovery from the period of instability experienced in the tourism industry during the year 2005. Over 223,652 tourists have visited the Maldives until April 2006, which is an increase of 97 percent compared to the same period of 2005. Italy is still leading the arrivals market with a share of 24.5 percent, followed by United Kingdom with 15.9 percent, Germany with 11.6 percent, France with 10.6 percent, Japan with 4.7 percent, Russia with 3.7 percent, and China with 3.4 percent.

Furthermore, the Resort Occupancy Survey conducted by the Maldives Tourism Promotion Board forecasts a more positive outlook for Maldivian tourism for the next four months. It is expected that the resort islands of Maldives will gain an average occupancy rate of 81 percent this May, which is an increase of 14.8 percent compared to May 2004, the period before the Tsunami in December 2004. The average occupancy rates are also forecasted to increase to 71 percent in July and 86 percent in August 2006.

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