As the bilateral ties between New Delhi and Male proceed to deteriorate, a current report citing information from the Maldives tourism ministry confirmed that the variety of Indian vacationers within the nation dipped by 33 % as in comparison with March final yr.

A report from Male-based Adhadhu acknowledged that in March 2023, over 41,000 Indian vacationers visited Maldives whereas the quantity dropped to only 27,224 in March 2024, exhibiting a steep decline of 33 %. The main cause behind this decline is the tourism marketing campaign of the Indian authorities, prompting residents to discover the Lakshadweep islands.

Till March 2023, India was the second largest supply of tourism for Maldives, with a ten % share out there, the report stated. However, the diplomatic tensions between the 2 nations led to India dropping to the sixth place, with a six % market share.

While India sees a serious drop within the variety of vacationers, China has seen a sudden spike within the variety of vacationers visiting Maldives. As the ties between China and Maldives strengthen, the previous has seen over 54,000 vacationer arrivals within the nation in 2024.

China is now the highest visiting nation for Maldives, main a major chunk of the market. The island nation noticed a complete of 217,394 vacationers arrive in February this yr, out of which over 34,600 had been from China. Notably, India was the highest vacationer marketplace for Maldives in 2021, 2022, and 2023, with greater than 200,000 vacationers per yr.

India-Maldives diplomatic row

The Indian vacationer marketplace for Maldives began seeing a major decline after the appointment of President Mohamed Muizzu, who is understood to be a pro-China chief. Muizzu additionally handed the order to push out Indian navy personnel from Maldives, escalating tensions between the 2 nations.

The ties between the 2 nations worsened when Maldivian ministers made derogatory feedback about Prime Minister Narendra Modi on social media, triggering a wave of world outrage.

President Muizzu visited China only a week after derogatory feedback in opposition to PM Modi had been posted. He urged China to revive its tourism market in Maldives to spice up the island nation’s economic system.

The Maldivian president stated, “China was our number one market pre-COVID, and it is my request that we intensify efforts for China to regain this position.”