The World Bank projects Maldives’ GDP to grow by 17.1% in 2021 and 11.5% in 2022 thanks to tourism. According to a report by the World Bank, the Maldives’ strong repute among high-income and high-profile travellers aided the country chart a steady recovery.
In the Maldives’ medium-term outlook, World Bank says International media coverage of the tropical holiday destination reopening to tourism and successful marketing campaigns boosted the Maldives’ global image. Hence, the country attracted travellers from new markets such as Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
Additionally, the ongoing rollout of COVID-19 vaccines in the country further increases travellers’ confidence in the Maldives as a safe destination according to World Bank. Because of these reasons, demand for travel to the Maldives likely will remain high over the medium term.
Despite the positive outlook, World Bank states that Maldives’ recovery from the pandemic also depends on the uncertain recovery of global tourism and aviation industries. As the industry suffered immeasurable losses in 2020, tourism and aviation aren’t predicted to recover to the pre-pandemic levels until 2023 (or beyond).
Also read: Average Duration of Tourists’ Stay in the Maldives Increases
Currently, the World Bank projects that the Maldives will only reach its pre-pandemic levels of tourism and output in 2023.
Maldives is on track to receive an estimated one million tourists in 2021, about 60 percent of the 2019 record of 1.7 million tourists. This is a much more conservative estimate than the government’s current target of 1.5 million tourists.
The World Bank report stated.
However, if global travel restrictions were to be lifted sooner from major markets such as China, United Kingdom, and Italy, World Bank calculates the Maldives’ GDP could pick up strong in 2021.
According to the statistics, Maldives recorded 385,838 tourist arrivals by 29th April 2021. Furthermore, tourists spent an average of 9 days in the tropical holiday destination. Moreover, daily tourists arrivals continue to average above 3000.
