Sharp growth in tourist arrivals

by Jayampathy Jayasinghe

The number of tourist arrivals in the country for 2012 exceeded the projected figure of 1 million tourists arriving in the country by mid December despite a smear campaign organised by the Tamil diaspora at the World Travel Mart in London to dissuade tourists from visiting the country, said the Deputy Minister of Economic Development Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena at a media briefing held in Colombo recently.

The increased number of tourist arrivals this year is seen as a positive sign that bolster the image of the country. 'We have signed two memorandums of understanding last week that will benefit the tourist industry and the economic development of the country. The revenue earned from visa fees alone was Rs. 2,000 lakhs this year. We have planned to increase the room capacity of hotels by adding 5,200 rooms by next year," the minister said.

He said several travel magazines have even highlighted Sri Lanka as an important travel destination in the Asain region. Tourist arrivals from United Kingdom had increased by 3.5 percent compared to last year, despite the downturn in the economy, the minister said. Asked whether tourists from Western countries spend more than the Indian counterparts, Managing Director Sri Lankan Tourism Authority Rumi Jaufer said there was no truth in it as Indian tourists stay longer and spend more than Western tourists.

Meanwhile the Korean Air will start operating flights from Seoul next year while Kingfisher Airlines is expected to resume flights to Sri Lanka soon.

According to the Ministry of Economic Development, tourism industry earnings grew by 22.1 percent this year when compared with the first 10 months of 2011. Meanwhile the Economic Development Ministry has an ambitious plan to double the hotel room capacity to 50,000 by 2016. The direct foreign investment is estimated at US $ 3 billion. The targeted 2.5 million tourists will increase tourism earnings by five times to US dollars 2.75 billion by 2016.