Developed as holiday destination for snowbirds — people who want to escape harsh winter weather — as well as an idyllic summer getaway, Maldives has emerged as a favored holiday spot among Chinese travelers seeking to enjoy warm sunshine, pristine beaches and crystal-clear ocean waters.
The archipelago nation, which consists of about 1,200 small coral islands and lies to the southwest of the Indian sub-continent, is currently readying for a surge in visitors from China during the Lunar New Year holiday.
For Chinese tourists, a key strength of Maldives tourism lies in the “Maldives people — hospitable and welcoming”, said Mohamed Rasheed, the founder and chairman of the China-Maldivian Cultural Association.
“Maldives is generally a moderate prosperous society, highly secure, and self-disciplined. These features make it safe for Chinese tourists; overall the (nation) is free from social nuisance,” said Rasheed, who once served as Maldives’ ambassador to China.
“The people of Maldives have high respect for the Chinese, and admiration, as very industrious, hard-working people,” he told China Daily.
Maldives is a good destination for the Chinese, and it welcomes people from all walks of life, Rasheed added.
Maldives is known for high-end tourism, so the costs for travelers are relatively higher compared to many other Asian destinations, he said. Nevertheless, the emerging community-based tourism in Maldives makes if more affordable to people in China, Rasheed said.
In his opinion, it is not necessary for all to stay in the high-end retorts. Instead they can get decent accommodation in guesthouses and buy day packages to high-end resorts to “pamper themselves for a day”.
And “never try to compare the prices in China with the Maldives prices of food and necessities”, Rasheed said. Due to the small scale of its economy, and dependence on imports for everything, the prices in Maldives are at the higher end, he pointed out.
When Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu met with visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi earlier this month, Muizzu said that he was glad to see that China has become the largest source of tourists for the Maldives.
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Maldivian, the national flag carrier of the Maldives, has been keen on Maldives-China flights, according to Maldives’ state broadcaster PSM News. The carrier’s deputy managing director, Ali Saleem, told the news outlet that China has become the top source market for Maldives tourism. To promote and diversify the tourism sector in the coming years, wide-body flight operations will begin on routes to China, he added.
PSM News reported that Maldivian will connect Velana International Airport — the main international airport in the Maldives — with Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu, operating three weekly flights. The flights to China are expected to accommodate 60,000 passengers annually, with economy, business and premier class seating.
Apart from increased flights, Rasheed suggested that more sightseeing, cultural tours and heritage sites have to be incorporated into Maldives travel experiences, to meet the expectations of Chinese tourists and help them carry back wonderful and everlasting memories of the island nation.
Over the past 12 years, the Maldives has experienced steady growth in tourist arrivals, PSM News reported. In 2024, the nation recorded the highest number of tourist arrivals in a single year, at 2 million — amounting to around 9 percent increase over the total arrivals in 2023, according to the state broadcaster.
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To boost tourism in remote areas, Maldives will offer tax and land rent concessions, Maldives’ Minister of Tourism Ibrahim Faisal was quoted as saying by local media.
