August tourist arrivals increase by 2.5% with rise in Indian visitors
Tourism office data shows that tourist arrivals spiked by 2.5% from last year to 190,924 visitors with an increase in Indian tourists despite in decline growth of Chinese arrivals.
A 3.5% rise in visitors arriving to Sri Lanka from January to August was recorded totalling 1.406 million arrivals.
South Asian arrivals increased to 17.1% equalling 42,649 visitorsindicating a 27% rise in tourists from India numbering 31,220. A 5% drop in Maldivian arrivals accounted for 6,405 visitors and arrivals from Pakistan fell 1.2% to 3,133. During the 8-month period a 3.6% rise in Indian arrivals numbering 233,120 visitors was recorded.
Despite a 3.7% drop in Chinese arrivals totalling 42,412 tourists, visitors from East Asiarecorded a 2.4%increase to 42,412. Tourist arrivals from Malaysia rose by 27% 2,311, Indonesian arrivals were up by 120% to 1,143 and Singaporean arrivals went up 14% to 1,783. A 0.7% decline in tourists from China was recorded for the 8-month period accounting for only 189,696 arrivals.
An increase of 1.6% was recorded in arrivals from Western Europe numbering 65,949 visitors, with UK tourists the main contributor increasing 7% to 21,903. A 10% reduction in German tourists accounted for 10,993 visitors and French arrivals also decreased by 7% to 10,730. During the 8-month period UK arrivals had gone up by 7.8% to 121,378.
Eastern European arrivals recorded a 22% decline to 5,711, with Russianarrivals reducing to 49% totalling 1,272 visitors but an increase of 20% in Ukrainian tourists accounted for 1,399 arrivals.
A 12.9% reduction was recorded in the Middle Eastern market 16,339 visitors, with Saudi Arabian arrivals drooping by 6.2% to 8,761 visitors and a 5.9% rise in arrivals from the UAE numbering 1,373 tourists.
Sri Lanka saw a decrease in the number of tourists visiting the island during 2017, with Tourism Minister, John Amaratunga attributing the semi-closing of the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) for renovation in April, the spread of dengue and the flooding as causes.
OSL TAKE:
An increase in Indian arrivals is an encouraging sign since the country is Sri Lanka’s closest neighbour with the second highest population in the world and a growing middle-class, translating to a large market potential. Also, the geographical location means that ease of travel will encourage Indian visitors to consider Sri Lanka for a short vacation.
On the other hand, the growth shown in the tourism industry would be an encouraging sign for investors to explore opportunities in the tourism industry.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/12092017/Z_1 |