Small Island Developing States (SIDS, an official designation of the United Nations) such as Maldives and Cape Verde, are attracting ever increasing numbers of tourists, outlined the UN World Tourism Organisation in a report released Tuesday.

In the past decade, visitor numbers have increased by more than 12 million to reach 41 million in 2011.

International tourist arrivals are a key source of revenue for these small island states, with visitors accounting for more than 38 billion dollars in annual revenue.

The group of SIDS is made up of 38 states such as the Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Maldives, Mauritius and Seychelles islands which hold membership in the UN and which are increasingly desirable tourist destinations.

Fourteen other islands that are not UN members such as French Poylnesia make up the rest of the group.

The destinations have the common goals of preserving local resources and populations, paying particular attention to the inflow of tourists and the consequent effects on the environment.