Tourism Minister confident to meet 2013 one million tourist target
10 Feb 2013, 12:29 PM
Minivan News
Tourism Minister Ahmed Adheeb has claimed the Maldives will post one million tourist arrivals in 2013 after falling narrowly short of the mark last year.
Adheeb told local media that the government had “re-set” its sights on the one million arrival target that was set in 2012.
Last year, a total of 958,027 tourists arrived in the Maldives, with visitor numbers showing an eventual improvement despite the negative impact on the industry from political uncertainty in February.
“I really believe we can bring one million tourists to Maldives. We can very much confirm that when January and February end,” he was quoted as saying in local newspaper Haveeru.
The Tourism Minister said that with Chinese New Year being celebrated this month, the Maldives would see an unprecedented boost in arrivals, local media reported.
“As the Maldives market is based in China, large numbers of tourists come here to celebrate the Chinese New Year. I will say that Maldives’ New Year is already here,” he added.