Sri Lanka records increase in tourist arrivals in June compared to previous month of May
Statistics announced by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) has reportedly showed that tourist arrivals in the month of June had almost doubled to 63,072 from 37,802 in the previous month of May.
However, the tourist arrivals in June 2019 are 57% lower compared to the previous year, and year to date performance remains negative.
According to SLTDA, arrivals in June were down by 57% from the corresponding month of last year and arrivals in May were only 37,802, which is lower by 71% from the previous year.
According to statistics, June numbers were lowest for the year as against the average of 240-250,000 in the first quarter of this year.
First half arrivals amounted to 1 million, which is a decline of 13.4% from a year earlier, reports state.
India, Australia, United Kingdom, China, and the Maldives were reportedly Sri Lanka’s top five international tourist generating markets in the month of June this year.
India was the largest source of tourist traffic to Sri Lanka, accounting for 24% of the total traffic received in June.
Australia and the United Kingdom has accounted for 7% of the total traffic, while China and the Maldives has accounted for 6% and 5%, respectively.
The SLTDA has noted that as at 30 June, 1,008,449 of tourists had visited Sri Lanka for this year. It is a decline of 13.4% from last year’s figures, when 1,164,647 tourists had visited the country during the same period.
OSL take:
The increase in tourist arrivals in June when compared with the previous month, May, is indicative that Sri Lanka’s tourism industry is once again returning to normalcy following the Easter Sunday attacks. Sri Lanka’s tourism authorities are engaged in an aggressive global promotional campaign to woo tourists back to the country and the relaxing of travel advisories issued on Sri Lanka by many foreign countries have helped boost the country’s tourism industry. Also, the maintaining of Sri Lanka as the best destination in 2019 by Lonely Planet has given a further impetus to Sri Lanka Tourism. Therefore, foreign businesses/investors could visit Sri Lanka and explore business/investment opportunities in the country’s tourism sector.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/04072019/Z_3 |