Male, March 9 -- The number of Indian tourists visiting the Maldives has dropped by 33 per cent as compared to last year, Maldivian website Adhadhu reported, citing data from the Maldives Tourism Ministry.

This comes as the diplomatic row between New Delhi and Male continues to deteriorate.

According to Tourism Ministry statistics for 2023, 41,054 Indian tourists visited the Maldives by March 4 last year. The number of Indian tourists recorded as of March 2 this year was 27,224. This was 13,830 lesser than last year, Maldives-based Adhadhu reported.

In the same period last year, India was the second largest source market for tourists to the Maldives with a 10 per cent market share. However, India is now in sixth place on the list with ...