Tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka tops 1.1 million giving hope of achieving 1.55 million target this year
Daily FT: In a significant leap towards recovery, Sri Lanka celebrated the arrival of over 1.1 million tourists, rekindling hopes of achieving the ambitious target of 1.55 million arrivals by the end of the year.
This remarkable milestone marks the highest number of visitors to the country since 2019, when Sri Lanka welcomed 1.9 million arrivals.
In the first 25 days of October, Sri Lanka welcomed 87,926 tourists, propelling the cumulative arrivals over the 1.1 million mark.
Despite this commendable progress, industry experts are cautiously optimistic about reaching the ambitious monthly target of 147,789 arrivals, with just six days to go.
India, Russia, UK, Germany and China continue to lead the charts as the top five source markets for Sri Lanka in October so far.
The industry anticipates a bustling winter season, buoyed by the commencement of new charter flights operating into Colombo.
The Central Bank reveals that tourism earnings in the third quarter of 2023 were over $ 1.45 billion, reflecting a staggering 67% surge from the corresponding period of last year. September earnings stood at $ 152.2 million but witnessed a 28% dip from August. This dip is attributed to September falling short of its monthly arrivals target.
OSL take:
Sri Lanka’s tourism industry has once again become one of the fastest growing industries in the country. The steady growth in tourist arrivals to the country and the increase in the number of flights operated to Sri Lanka by international airlines are all indicative of the growth in the country’s tourist industry. The growth in the tourism industry has created new business/investment opportunities in the industry, especially in the leisure and hospitality sectors. The tourism promotional campaigns carried out by local authorities in key foreign source markets and the exploring of new tourism concepts have further opened the tourism industry for foreign businesses/investments. Foreign businesses/investors could also look at the opportunities in developing infrastructure and supplementary infrastructure facilities required by the country’s tourism industry to be prepared for the growing tourism industry. Given the growth and business potential in Sri Lanka’s tourism industry, foreign businesses/investors could confidently explore the expanding opportunities in the industry.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/20231101/Z_8 |