MALE, July 18 (Xinhua) -- The Maldives Tourism Ministry on Wednesday said over 726,000 tourists had visited the island country till June this year, recording a 10.5 percent growth compared to the same period last year.

A total of 93,786 tourists visited during the month of June with China, Germany, Britain, Italy and India being the top five markets.

Over 127,000 Chinese tourists have visited the Maldives so far this year, statistics showed.

The European tourist market contributed to 51.3 percent of total holidaymakers visiting Maldives so far. This meant a total of 372,388 tourists visited during the first six months of 2018 from the said region, statistics showed.

The total number of tourists originating from the Asia Pacific region from January till June reached 290,542, marking a 3.3 percent growth from last year's figures.

In a bid to attract more tourists from China, Maldives Tourism Minister Moosa Zameer said recently that the government is aiming to establish direct air links between the two countries by the year-end.

Maldives is now carrying out marketing campaigns in many countries including China and is in talks with leading airlines to start direct flights between the two countries, he said.