Growth in tourism opens new vistas

by Uditha KUMARASINGHE

The hotels and restaurants sub-sector of Sri Lanka has grown by 41.5 percent in the first six months of 2010 compared to the 8.6 percent growth in the same period of 2009.

This shows a quick response to the end of terrorist activities coupled with the booming tourism sector.

According to Finance Ministry sources, the improvement of travel-related activities such as aviation, tour operation, development of tourist infrastructure and expansion of both local and foreign tourism enabled this sector to register an impressive growth.

This improvement was clearly reflected in the trend of increasing hotel charges, the sources said.

Raising the potential of tourism and the associated leisure industry, tourist arrivals rose by 47 percent to 397,889 tourists from January to August 2010. Tourist arrivals from Western Europe and South Asia increased by 45 percent and 53 percent respectively.

Sri Lanka has set a target of 2.5 million tourists with earnings at around US$ 2.8 billion by 2016, opening new avenues for the construction industry, domestic agriculture, recreation, food and beverages industry and traditional Ayurvedic treatment, the sources said.