Sri Lanka expects 50% increase in arrivals from nine markets
The Morning: Sri Lanka is expecting to see a 50% increase in arrival numbers from nine overseas markets this year, Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) Chairperson Buddhika Hewawasam told The Daily Morning Business.
This projection is based on the launch of a global tourism promotion campaign by the SLTDA, slated to begin at the end of March, with a revenue target of $ 5 billion and three million tourist arrivals.
“In terms of key performance indicators (KPIs), we expect arrivals from each of the nine tourism source markets to increase by at least 50%, cascading from the expected three million tourist arrivals number,” Hewawasam said.
“Of the countries we are targeting, the top five are the highest tourism arrival source countries for Sri Lanka at the moment, which are India, China, Germany, the UK, and France.”
He explained that Sri Lanka has so far been engaging in B2B campaigns by participating in fairs and roadshows abroad. “However, there has been no brand positioning campaign in the last 15 years.”
Since 2010, Sri Lanka’s Visit Sri Lanka and So Sri Lanka campaigns marketed the country as a diverse destination offering cultural, wildlife, and beach experiences.
Earnings peaked in 2018 with $ 4.4 billion in revenue. In 2019, Sri Lanka gained international acclaim, being named the “Best Country to Visit in 2019” by Lonely Planet.
Of the main targeted countries, India remains the largest source market to Sri Lanka, due to its geographical proximity and cultural ties. China, once a rapidly growing market, saw a decline in arrivals after the Easter attacks and Covid-19, but has been sowing steady recovery with airline connectivity improvements.
European markets too have shown resilience, with Germany and the UK consistently ranking among the top five source countries, based on data published by the SLTDA. Hewawasam explained that the SLTDA is now expanding its focus to include emerging source markets such as Australia, the Middle East, Russia, and the Asia-Pacific region (including Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia).
These markets have historically been seen as having high growth potential, particularly for niche segments like eco-tourism, wellness tourism, and cultural tourism. However, Hewawasam said that the campaign does not seek to target luxury or niche tourists, unlike the previous campaigns launched by the SLTDA.
“We are not specifically targeting luxury tourists; we are more concerned with Sri Lanka’s brand positioning factors.”
Hewawasam added that the SLTDA is also looking to utilise Google Analytics as a KPI to see if Sri Lanka’s brand proposition or digital presence is in the right place, targeting the right people, and is leveraged to its best.
“For this, we have appointed a campaign monitoring unit, which will ensure that the B2C campaign is on the right track.”
Sri Lanka missed its tourism target for 2024 by approximately 250,000 arrivals, recording 2.05 million arrivals in 2024, and revenue of $ 3.17 billion- a 53.2% increase compared to the $ 2.07 billion earned in 2023.
When asked if the government is seeking to provide tax incentives and price stabilisation mechanisms for hotels and tour operators for the year ahead, Hewawasam said that the industry can await credit facilities, incentives, funding, and consultancy opportunities in the future, with the launch of the campaign.
OSL take:
The steady growth in Sri Lanka’s tourism industry is further evident by the anticipated increase in tourist arrivals to the country from several source markets. Sri Lanka had been identified as a must visit tourist destination while local authorities are on the constant lookout for new tourism concepts to be promoted in tourist source markets. All this growth in the tourism industry has in-turn resulted in the expansion of business/investment opportunities in the industry. These opportunities range from the development of infrastructure and supplementary infrastructure facilities required by the tourism industry to expand operations in the new tourism concepts being promoted to attract foreign tourists. The interest shown by international leisure and hospitality brands in entering Sri Lanka’s tourism industry is a clear indication of the increasing business potential in the industry. The expansion programmes undertaken by local businesses in the leisure and hospitality sectors have added to this. Given all these positive developments, foreign businesses/investors could confidently explore the expanding opportunities in Sri Lanka’s tourism industry while also looking at further expansion of operations through local collaborations.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/20250327/Z_1 |