Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority expects surge in charter flights and cruise ship arrivals
The Morning: Sri Lanka anticipates an increase in high-end tourism revenue with a surge in charter flights and cruise ship arrivals, The Daily Morning Business learnt.
Speaking to The Daily Morning Business, Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) Chairman Priantha Fernando said: “According to immigration-related statistical data, we should hopefully see around 75 cruises touching different points in Sri Lanka in the coming year.”
He also stated that charter operations this year in Sri Lanka expect an increase in registration by about 25-30% among arrivals. This number is expected to increase considerably in 2024 and would ideally be at about 600,000 arrivals on charters.
Moreover, he explained that on cruise operations, the duration of tourists’ stay is short, with a maximum average of two nights with a high daily spend above average. On charters, the average duration is about eight days with an average daily spend of around $ 175.
According to the SLTDA, tourists on cruises are usually from Europe, the USA, and Canada.
Moreover, Fernando explained that there are many initiatives carried out by stakeholders as well as the authorities to maximize earnings from these tourism segments which specifically fall under high-end tourism.
High-end tourism is one of the major goals for the next five years as President Ranil Wickremesinghe targets high-end tourists to achieve over $ 15 billion in tourist earnings.
“We will have to improve the facilities and services in hotels to cater to that demand and we are expecting to welcome about 2.5 million high-end tourists by 2029 and the other 2.5 million will be a mix of budget tourists and other categories,” Fernando said.
OSL take:
The steady growth in the country’s tourism industry due to the increasing tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka have pushed the local tourism authorities to also promote new tourism concepts in new tourist source markets. With the continuous promotional campaigns carried out by local authorities in key tourist source markets and the international media identifying Sri Lanka as a must visit tourist destination, there is bound to be a steady growth in tourist arrivals to the country. All these are indicative of the overall expansion in business/investment opportunities in the tourism industry, especially in the leisure and hospitality sectors. There are also growing opportunities in the development of the tourism industry as well as the development of supplementary infrastructure facilities required by the industry to be on line with the growing demand. Foreign businesses/investors could explore the expanding business/investment opportunities in Sri Lanka’s tourism industry given the growth and business potential of the industry.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/20231201/Z_3 |