Hurulu Eco Park in Sri Lanka’s North Central Province becomes major tourist attraction
The Hurulu Eco Park in Sri Lanka’s North Central Province has reportedly become a major tourist attraction with an increase in foreign visitors and a six fold increase in the revenue generated by the park.
Hurulu Eco Park’s revenue has grown in 2018 to Rs. 48.5 million from Rs. 7.3 million in 2017, an increase of six times, the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) has stated in its annual report for 2018.
Hirulu Eco Park is a forest reserve offering jeep safaris to see elephant herds.
The report states that the number of foreign visitors to the park has increased to 36,664 in 2018, from 5,644 visitors in 2017 and the total number of visitors to the park has grown to 57,292 in 2018 from 7,409, a year earlier.
The park is home to many exotic and endangered animals such as the Sri Lankan elephant, Indian Star Tortoise, Sri Lankan Jungle fowl and the Rusty-Spotted Cat, local media reports stated.
According to Tripadvisor.com, the cost of jeep safaris in Hurulu Eco Park ranges from 6,000 to 16,000 rupees (34-89 US dollars).
Sri Lanka’s total conservation forest revenue has reportedly contributed Rs. 71.9 million to the foreign exchange earnings of Rs. 712,027.3 million.
The SLTDA has further noted that tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka in 2018 was 2,333,796, which is a 10.3% increase from 2017 and that Sri Lanka has earned US$ 4.4 billion from tourism in 2018, which is an increase of 11.6 percent from US$ 3.9 billion a year earlier.
OSL take:
Sri Lanka’s tourism industry has been on a growth path during the past few years. The country’s tourism industry showed an impressive return to normalcy following the setback suffered in the Easter Sunday attacks in April. Sri Lanka continues to maintain the top slot as the destination of the year in several key global travel publications. Given Sri Lanka’s performance in the tourism industry, foreign businesses/investors could explore business/investment opportunities in Sri Lanka’s tourism industry.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/20191125/Z_8 |