By The Annual Report 2023 published by MIRA painted a picture of the tourism industry
Source: MIRA
The Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA) recently published their Annual Report for 2023 and with it, painted an overview of the tourism industry and possibly indicated where it is headed.
The Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA) recently published their Annual Report for 2023 and with it, painted an overview of the tourism industry and possibly indicated where it is headed.
While the amount of tourist arrivals increased 12.83 percent from 2022 to 2023, this is 3.92 percent more than projected numbers. The collected income however fell below projected levels in 2023 due to 496 taxpayers failing to pay up MVR 145.02 million before the deadline.
Overdue payments completed in 2022 amounted to 16 percent of the revenue as it included extensions due to Covid-19. The same payments in 2023 however amounted to only two percent of the total revenue.
According to the report, 138 enterprises from the tourism sector were removed from the business registry, while 77 new ventures were added. In total, there were 4,025 new registrations for the tourism sector GST.
As for the Land Rent from Tourism, there was a shortfall of 8.1 percent when compared to the previous year in 2023. This was however still a 1.5 percent increase from projected numbers.
The report also highlighted how outbound tourists from Maldivian airports surpassed 14.7 percent more than projected numbers. Interestingly, there was also a notable 13.9 percent increase in passengers traveling in economy class. All this to say that the collection of Airport Development Fee rose 19.6 percent in 2023 when compared to 2022.
Green tax implemented on the industry since 2015
have been levied on tourists staying at either resorts, hotels, vessels and guesthouses operated in the Maldives and directed towards environment conservation by the government. The estimated Green Tax Revenue rose 2.7 percent more in 2023, when compared to the year before.
If tourist arrivals are an indication of tax collections, a brief look at this year showed that the past month of May saw tourist arrivals decrease when compared to the same month in previous two years. The difference however may not be as alarming as some may believe with just 0.9 percent. According to numbers from the Tourism Ministry, a total of 932,398 tourists have arrived in Maldives as of 11 June this year. This is an overall increase of 9.6 percent over the same period last year.
In a TV interview given just this Wednesday at Public Service Media, the Minister for Tourism Ibrahim Faisal expressed his confidence that tourist arrivals to the country will reach 2.1 or 2.2 million by the end of 2024.