The spectacular beauty of these coral islands made the Maldives one of the most popular holiday destinations in the world. People had visited these islands to trade with the inhabitants and by chance when their ships ran off course or were shipwrecked in the shallow reefs of the Maldives. The sheer natural beauty of the country and the warm hospitality of her dwellers captivated almost all of them.

From a very humble beginning in the 1970s the tourism in the Maldives has evolved and matured into an industry, which is a key player of the domestic economy. Tourism in the Maldives began in 1972 with 2 tourist resorts namely Kurumba Village and Bandos Island Resort with a bed capacity of 280. By 1987 the total number of resorts increased to 57, while their bed capacity rose to 6203 beds.

After 29 years of sustainable growth in the industry the number of resorts in 2000 stands at 87, having a total bed capacity of more than 15,000 in resort islands. There were more than 2500 beds in other tourist accommodating facilities such as hotels, guesthouses and safari vessels. Today tourism contributes over 19% to the country’s GDP, generating more than 70% of foreign exchange earnings and more than 40% of government revenues. The number of in-bound tourists to the country increased tremendously from 1097 tourist in 1972 to 395,725 in 1998.

According to 2023 Statistics by the Ministry of Tourism, the Maldives boasts an operational number of 176 resorts with 43,279 beds, 14 hotels with 1940 beds, 809 guest houses accommodating 13,657 beds, and 146 liveaboard safari vessels adding 2,774 beds. More than 23 new resort islands with a capacity of 7403 beds are currently under development and schedule to open in 2024. Several newer resort islands are under development, scheduling to open 2025-2027.

Each resort is located on an island with self-contained facilities such as power plants, cold rooms, desalination plants, sewage and waste disposal systems, staff quarters, transport services and diving facilities etc. Each resort is designed differently and every island is unique despite the typical tropical environment of the Maldives. Guestrooms are generally built in single story though very few resorts have two story rooms. Most of them have thatched roofs and are built of timber, environmentally friendly materials, corals and bricks.