Sri Lanka’s tourist arrivals in February records growth from a year earlier
Sri Lanka’s tourism authorities have reportedly stated that tourist arrivals to the country have grown by 7 percent from a year earlier to 252,033 in February 2019.
The Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority has noted a steep fall in Chinese visitors.
The authority has stated that the top generating markets were India with 13 percent of arrivals, the United Kingdom 12 percent, China 11 percent, and France and Germany 7 percent each.
Indian visitors have recorded a decline of 1.9 percent to 21,286 while visitors from the UK have grown 8.8 percent to 29,750.
Arrivals from China had dropped 22 percent to 28,039 amid traditional Chinese Lunar New Year holidays.
Also, visitors from the US have risen 61 percent to 9,678 and Australians by 61 percent to 6,469.
In 2018, Sri Lanka welcomed 2,333,796 tourists.
In the first two months of the year, Sri Lanka has recorded 496,272 visitor arrivals, up 4.6 percent from a year earlier.
OSL take:
Sri Lanka’s tourism sector has continuously recorded a growth since 2015. It is interesting to note an increase in tourist arrivals from the UK, US and Australia in February this year, which indicates Sri Lanka’s tourism industry is on track to meeting its targets on tourism arrivals for 2019. Sri Lankan tourism authorities have carried out many promotional campaigns overseas and have introduced new forms of tourism in the country as well. Foreign businesses/investors could therefore explore business/investment opportunities in Sri Lanka’s tourism industry, especially in the leisure and hospitality sectors.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/13032019/Z_3 |