Maldives' Aug tourist arrivals top pre-pandemic levels

Male, Aug 29 (IANS) Tourist arrivals to the Maldives in August have surpassed the pre- Covid-19 pandemic figures for the same month in 2019, local media citing data from the Ministry of Tourism reported.Tourism Ministry data showed that the Maldives received 120,529 tourists from August 1 to 25 compared to 120,341 tourist arrivals in August 2019 before the Covid-19 pandemic struck.Data showed that arrivals in August were 18 per cent higher than in July.Russia has been the Maldives' main source of tourists so far in 2021 with 157,876 arrivals, followed by India with 146,206 arrivals, and Germany with 42,078 arrivals.The tourism sector, as one of the country's main sources of income, suffered setbacks due to the pandemic in 2020 before being reopened to tourists in 2021.
--IANS ksk/