Sri Lanka records 83 percent increase in tourist arrivals in July
Sri Lanka’s tourism authorities have recorded an increase in tourist arrivals to the country in the month of July in comparison to the previous month of June. Accordingly, tourist arrivals in July have reportedly crossed the 100,000 mark, which reflects a 83% gain in comparison to June. However, the number of arrivals was still 102,000 below the numbers recorded during the same period last year.
The Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) has reportedly stated that there were 115,701 tourist arrivals in July, up 83% as against 63,072 in June.
In May, it was as low as 37,802, suffering most following the Easter Sunday terror attacks in April on three five-star hotels and an equal number of churches.
In July last year, there were 217,829 tourist arrivals, and the latest performance is 47% lower and suggests there is much room for growth.
SLTDA has said, “There is a gradual growth in the number of tourist arrivals since the Easter Sunday attacks.”
“The market has significantly shown progress over the past few weeks and we are happy to notice that the occupancy rates are increasing in hotels across Sri Lanka,” SLTDA Director General Upali Ratnayake has been quoted as saying in the local media.
“Further, we are hopeful that the industry will have a satisfactory season from October onwards,” he has added.
Last year, Sri Lanka welcomed 2.33 million tourists and earned US$ 4.4 billion in foreign exchange and the SLTDA has said they were expecting around 1.9 million to 2 million tourist arrivals by the end of this year.
OSL take:
Sri Lanka’s tourism sector has shown a quick return to normalcy following the setback suffered in the aftermath of the Easter Sunday attacks in April when compared with other countries that have suffered from similar tragedies. The government of Sri Lanka has introduced a free visa programme for many countries and the leisure, hospitality and aviation sectors have offered special promotions/packages to foreign travellers as well. Sri Lanka continues to maintain the top slot as the destination of the year in several key global travel publications. All this have helped and will continue to help the growth of Sri Lanka’s tourism sector. There have been many foreign investments that have come in to the tourism industry during the past few months due to the business potential in the sector. Therefore, foreign businesses/investors could explore business/investment opportunities in Sri Lanka’s tourism industry.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/06082019/Z_4 |