Male, Oct 26 (IANS): Over 100,000 tourists have visited the Maldives in the month of October, the state-owned PSM News citing data from the Ministry of Tourism said on Tuesday.

Ministry data showed that 102,434 tourists visited the Maldives from October 1 to 24, a 599 per cent increase from the same period in 2020 but a 2 per cent decrease compared to 2019, reports Xinhua news agency.

The Maldives has recorded a total of 973,269 tourist arrivals so far this year, or a daily average of 4,454.

According to the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC), the country will this year cross the mark of a million tourist arrivals by the end of October.

India and Russia were the biggest sources of tourist arrivals for the Maldives, accounting for 23 per cent and 19 per cent of all arrivals, respectively.

They were followed by visitors from France, Kazakhstan, Spain, Ukraine, the UK and the US.

The country's borders had been fully closed for three months last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic before they were reopened in July 2020.

The borders were closed for South Asian tourists due to a surge of Covid-19 cases in May 2021, but were reopened on July 15.

Tourism is the largest economic industry in the Maldives, as it plays an important role in earning foreign exchange revenues and employing thousands of citizens.