Tourist arrivals from Russia to Sri Lanka witness impressive increase in 2019
Tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka from Russia have reportedly recorded an all-time increase in 2019 with Russian flag carrier Aeroflot’s expansion of services to Colombo.
As per provisional data, Russian tourists last year had amounted to around 86,549 and surpassed the previous highest of 69,718, achieved in 2014. In comparison to 2018, last year figure was a 34% increase, according to the Daily FT.
As per the first 11 months data of 2019, Russian tourist arrivals were 68,990, up by 29.6%. In November, the figure jumped 79.7% to 14,537 and in December it hit a record of 17,559, the news report has stated.
“The airline has been doing really well since they resumed operations following the Easter Sunday attacks. There has been a steady growth in the number of Russian tourists coming to Sri Lanka,” Euro Asia Tours Ltd. Managing Director Passenger Sales Agent for Aeroflot-Russian Airlines Sam Wickramasinghe has told the Daily FT.
He has noted that the five weekly flights using an Airbus A330 aircraft under the winter schedule effective from October through end March this year has been extremely lucrative.
“We have over 300 passengers coming to Sri Lanka in each flight. This winter season has been really good since Aeroflot resumed operations in July 2019,” Wickramasinghe has further noted.
Wickramasinghe has added that the numbers are increasing with the improved security situation and the general positive outlook of the Sri Lankan public.
Aeroflot, which stopped flights to Colombo a decade ago, had re-introduced five weekly flights between Moscow and Colombo in October 2018, but had stopped operations for three months post Easter Sunday attacks until the flights recommenced in July 2019.
OSL take:
Sri Lanka’s overall tourist arrivals have recorded a growth in the past few months. Despite suffering a setback following the Easter Sunday attacks in April last year, Sri Lanka’s tourism industry has shown an impressive return to normalcy. Sri Lanka continues to be named as a must visit destination by globally renowned travel publications. All this has resulted in the continuous expansion of business opportunities in Sri Lanka’s tourism industry. Foreign businesses could therefore explore business opportunities in Sri Lanka’s tourism industry.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/20200109/Z_2 |