Male, June 28 (TIWN) The Maldives has received over 550,000 tourists between January and June this year, data from the Ministry of Tourism revealed on Monday.

The Ministry data showed that 555,494 tourists visited the country by mid-year, with 24.3 per cent of them coming from Russia and 18 per cent from India, reports Xinhua news agency.     

Data showed that the number of arrivals in the country declined in May and June due to a surge of Covid-19 cases requiring strengthened restrictions on travel.  The country banned arrivals from Asian countries including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka in May.  It received over 555,000 tourist arrivals in 2020, down from 1.7 million in 2019, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. 

The government aims to achieve 1.5 million tourist arrivals by the end of this year.  Tourism accounts for the largest economic industry in the Maldives.