COLOMBO: Tourist arrivals in Maldives rose to 12.3 per cent — more than projected in 2007 and its highest ever — thanks to an improvement in the infrastructure of its tourist resorts, officials said on Wednesday.

The tourist arrivals reached 675,889 in 2007 compared with 601,860 in 2006, the island’s Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation said in a statement.

“The increase was mainly because of the infrastructure improvement in the resorts,” Abdulla Niam, deputy director of marketing at Maldives Tourism Promotion Board said.

“We opened some of the resorts last year, which closed after 2004 tsunami.”

Tourist resorts in the Maldives were hit by the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, which killed over 200,000 in the region.

Although the islands’ target last year was to achieve an 8.5 per cent increase over 2006 tourists arrivals, the Maldives achieved saw a better-than-expected rise to 12.3 per cent.

The Maldives Tourism Ministry said United Kingdom ranked top in 2007 with 125,158 tourist arrivals, followed by Italy with 117,246 tourists.

Renowned for its luxury resorts — accommodation in pavilions on stilts over turquoise lagoons can cost over $1,000 a night — white sand beaches and world class snorkelling and scuba diving, tourism is the lynchpin of the Maldives’ $850 million economy.

Tourism revenues grew 10 per cent in 2007, contributing $240 million or 28 per cent of GDP. Tourist arrivals fell 36 per cent to 395,300 in 2005 after the disaster, but recovered to 601,860 in 2006. —Reuters