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Five percent increase in tourist arrivals during first quarter of 2008
By whitetern | May 3, 2008
Tourist arrivals increased by 5.1 percent during the first quarter of this year when compared to the same period last year, the Tourism Ministry has said.
Statistics from the Department of Immigration and Emigration show that 204,285 tourists had arrived in Maldives between January and March this year, the Tourism Ministry said, compared to 194,285 tourists last year during the same period. The Ministry also said that the average occupancy of the Maldives had remained constant at 95.7 percent during the first quarter.
The statistics also showed that during March this year an increase of 13 percent had been experienced over March in last year. 51,469 tourists had visited Maldives this year during March.
The Ministry had earlier predicted that there would be an increase of around five percent in tourist arrivals this year compared to last year. 711,711 tourists are expected to arrive in Maldives this year, according to Tourism Ministry.
A statement issued by the Tourism Ministry last Thursday said that the expected target tourist arrivals seemed very likely in view of the statistics from the first quarter of the year. However the statement also said that the rising cost of oil in the world market could affect the economy of the countries which were the biggest contributors to tourism in the Maldives and therefore it was possible that the number of tourist arrivals this year could fall short of the expected target number.
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