Visit Maldives, LOTİ host Business Breakfast in Russia as arrivals grow 18.5 percent

The Visit Maldives Corporation held a Business Breakfast event in Russia in collaboration with LOTİ, a premium Russian tour operator. The event brought together travel trade partners, industry stakeholders, and media representatives, according to Visit Maldives Corporation.

The gathering aimed to strengthen partnerships and exchange market insights on promoting the Maldives to Russian travelers, the corporation said. It focused on Russia's role as one of the Maldives' leading source markets and on continued collaboration with LOTİ.

Visit Maldives Corporation and LOTİ described the event as a platform to explore new opportunities in the Russian luxury travel segment. The corporation did not immediately provide the exact date, location, or number of attendees for the Business Breakfast.

Russia posts growth as overall arrivals decline

Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation data support the characterization of Russia as a leading source market. Russia sent 150,187 tourists to the Maldives between January and June 2026, up 18.5 percent from 126,780 in the same period last year, according to ministry figures.

Russia ranked as the Maldives' second-largest tourist source market by nationality for the first half of 2026, behind China. Russian arrivals accounted for 14.4 percent of all tourist arrivals to the Maldives during the period, the data show.

The growth in Russian arrivals came even as total tourist arrivals to the Maldives fell 5.7 percent, from 1,108,130 in the first half of 2025 to 1,044,667 in the same period this year, according to the ministry.

In June 2026 alone, 25,091 tourists arrived from Russia, up 15.5 percent from 21,721 in June 2025. Russian tourists made up 20.3 percent of all arrivals that month, the highest monthly share recorded in the data reviewed.

Resort stays dominate Russian traveller preference

Ministry data show 79.6 percent of Russian tourists who visited the Maldives in the first half of 2026 stayed in resorts. Guesthouses accounted for 17.7 percent of stays, hotels for 1.4 percent, and tourist vessels for 1 percent.

The resort share for Russian visitors was higher than the Maldives-wide average of 72 percent of tourists staying in resorts across all nationalities, according to the ministry's figures.

Separately, Visit Maldives Corporation reported in May that Russia contributed 13.4 percent of total arrivals through 14 May 2026, with 112,718 tourists recorded up to that point in the year. That figure covers a different and shorter reporting period than the ministry's January to June dataset and is not directly comparable.

Background

Visit Maldives Corporation, the Maldives' national tourism marketing body, has run multiple initiatives targeting the Russian market in 2026, including a joint digital campaign with Russia-based operator Maldiviana and participation in Russian trade platforms. LOTİ, described by Visit Maldives Corporation as a premium tour operator, has separately reported rising demand for Maldives travel among its Russian clientele this year.