Minister of Tourism and Environment Thoriq Ibrahim has said that more than 714 tourism related businesses have been registered and 6,665 new tourist beds have been brought into operation over the past two years since President Dr Mohamed Muizzu assumed office.

The Minister shared the figures during a press conference held at the President’s Office on Tuesday, where he provided an overview of the current status and recent growth of the tourism sector.

There are currently 1,330 tourism establishments operating in the Maldives. These include 178 resorts, 167 liveaboards or safari yachts, 16 hotels, and 969 guesthouses.

In total, 67,229 beds are currently in operation nationwide. This includes 44,524 beds in resorts, 3,322 beds in liveaboards, 2,598 beds in hotels, and 16,786 beds in guesthouses.

Minister Thoriq said that since President Dr Muizzu took office, 714 tourism related businesses have been newly registered. These include six resorts, 22 liveaboards, three hotels, 197 guesthouses, 45 dive centres, 50 homestays, and 391 travel agencies.

He added that bed capacity has also expanded significantly during the period. Newly registered beds include 1,474 beds in resorts, 3,704 beds in guesthouses, 708 beds in hotels, 463 beds in liveaboards, and 316 beds registered under homestays.

The Minister said more than 150 tourism development projects are currently underway across different parts of the country, with three new resorts completed and opened so far this year.

More than 2.17 million tourists have visited the Maldives so far this year, representing an increase of 10 per cent compared to the same period last year. This year marked the fastest time the Maldives has reached one million tourist arrivals, with the two million mark also achieved earlier than in the previous year.