The Maldives entered 2007 in buoyant spirits, having welcomed 601,923 visitors to the archipelago of 1,190 islands; an increase of 52.3% on 2005.

This steady growth indicates the high regard for, and confidence in, the future of tourism on this small island state whose total population is around 300,000.

There were a total of 107,995 UK visitors to the Maldives during January to December 2006, up 23.8% on the same period in 2005. The UK remains a key market, second only to Italy which produced arrivals of 118,929, whilst Germany (70,830) and France (43,627) also saw an overall increase. Europe remains the number one market for the Maldives, representing 76% of the total share with 457,535 of arrivals coming from Europe.

Emerging markets include Japan, China and Korea with visitation from Asia as a whole up 68.9% on 2005.

The Maldives has such a healthy occupancy year round, that bookings are stretched to capacity.

Indeed, The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) predicts that arrivals to Maldives are likely to increase by 6.8% in 2007 bringing the expected figure to around 658,600 for 2007.

In order to accommodate the additional visitors, whilst ensuring that tourism is spread more evenly across the atolls, 35 new resorts will open in the coming years satisfying the demand for more luxury and affordable resorts.

The government however remains cautious and all new builds will have to conform to strict planning controls and be sympathetic to the environment.

As this new era in tourism expansion begins, the government looks forward to spreading tourism more equally across several atolls so the economic effect can be enjoyed more evenly by islanders themselves.

The new resorts in the outer atolls will create more employment opportunities locally and also ease congestion in and around the capital Male. Several innovative resorts will be built in the newly designated Southern Tourism Zone serviced by an international standard airport at Gan on Addu Atoll.

The first of these is Herathera an 300 room affordable hotel due to open by September 07.

Coupled with the new Shangri-La which will begin operation in early 2008, these two new resorts will be blade runners in the new- style resorts on Addu whose local population is second only to Male, with 18,000 thousand inhabitants.

Plans continue to unfold for the development of ten medium-range and ten luxury hotels satisfying the demand for both affordable and bespoke, signature resorts.

The remaining 15 newly designated tourism islands will include some community integrated hotels co-owned by The Maldivian people who will hold a 55% majority share in this new initiative, highlighting the long-term goal to see tourism integrated with local island life.

The government will keep control of the remaining shares in this new venture.

Room occupancy for 2006 for the existing resorts hovered around 90%, and encouragingly the Maldives experienced an extended peak season.

These promising statistics, combined with a commitment by tour operators to support this growth with additional air capacity will ensure demand for the extra 5000 - 7,000 beds on new resorts.

For 2007, the Maldives Tourism Promotion Board will continue to invest in the UK market with a number of new and established initiatives taking place across the UK to boost visitor arrivals still further.

A UK consumer outdoor and press advertising campaign in partnership with SriLankan Airlines is set to break in spring 2007, whilst the Maldives will continue its presence at consumer exhibitions including the Luxury Travel Show and trade roadshows including World Travel Market.

Dr Mahamood Shougee, Minister of Tourism and Civil Aviation commented:

'The forthcoming years represent a very important era for tourism in the Maldives. The new resorts will create a further 8,000 tourism jobs for local Maldivians, whilst the newly formed Maldives Tourism Development Corporation will bring tourism to local islands and ensure the population can also benefit from tourism revenue. We will also strive to ensure that growth
is carefully managed to ensure that the delicate beauty of the Maldives remains for many generations to come'.

Dr. Abdulla Mausoom, Director General, Maldives Tourism Promotion Board commented: 'It is an exciting time for tourism in the Maldives. We appreciate the loyalty of the UK market which has remained strong and the challenge now is to broaden the appeal of the Maldives to a wider discerning audience including more families and special interest groups over the coming years .'