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Sri Lanka hopeful of getting one million tourists from Europe this year

Sri Lanka hopeful of getting one million tourists from Europe this year

Sri Lanka is expected to record around one million tourists from Europe this year, Chamindra Goonewardene, Director of Operations at Santani Wellness Resort and Spa has reportedly said.
Goonewardene has noted that as of October this number was at 800,000, and it will probably hit the one million mark by the end of the year with peak season coming up.
Around 43 percent of total arrivals to Sri Lanka came from Europe this year, he has further observed.
Throughout the last 10 years, Europe has consistently maintained an average of 39-40 percent, he has added.
According to reports, this is not purely because of typical source markets like the UK, France and Germany, which only make up around 50 percent of European arrivals.
There are a lot of emerging markets for tourism from Europe, Goonewardene has been quoted as saying in the local media.
Arrivals from the Czech Republic have grown by almost 60 percent compared to last year, and Poland by around 52 percent, reports state.
Goonewardene has stated at business forum in Colombo recently that Spain, Austria and Denmark have all grown by around 30 percent, a rate they have been maintaining for the past 10 years.
“We constantly talk about the short haul markets being China, India and the Middle East, but it is also vital to think about Europe.”
“There is a lot of potential in these (European) markets. The visitors are also high spenders,” Goonewardene has stated.

OSL take:

Sri Lanka has been on a continuous growth path in the tourism sector. Sri Lanka was also ranked no. 1 in the Lonely Planet must visit destinations in 2019. There has also been a drastic increase in the number of tourist arrivals in the country. All these have propelled a series of development programmes covering the tourism, leisure and hospitality industries in the country. Interested foreign businesses/investors could explore investment opportunities in these sectors.

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Article Code : VBS/AT/20181105/Z_2

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