The one millionth tourist due here soon

By Lalin Fernandopulle

The number of tourists will approach the one million mark by the end of this month, an official of Sri Lanka Tourism said.

He said that Sri Lanka had 883,353 tourists from January to November this year which is a 16.5 percent growth compared to 758,458 during the corresponding period in 2011.

Tourist arrivals rose 20.1 percent to 109,202 in November compared to 90,889 in the corresponding month last year. Tourism sector analysts said that reaching the one million target of tourists arrivals this year will be an uphill task with only a few more days left for the year to end.

Tourism industry officials were upbeat about the growth in the sector. Sri Lanka Tourism has placed an ambitious target of attracting 2.5 million visitors by 2016. Tourism industry experts are optimistic that the country will reach the one million tourist arrival mark due to the steady growth achieved on a monthly basis. They also stress the need for an adequate number of hotels rooms and skilled workers to woo visitors.

The number of arrivals rose 80,379 (15.5 percent) in October compared to 69,563 in the corresponding month of 2011.The number of foreign visitors increased 16 percent to 774,151 during the first 10 months of this year compared 667,569 last year. The number of arrivals last year was 855,975.

Sri Lanka was recognised as one of the safest destinations by a globally-renowned magazine this year. Fifteen Sri Lanka chefs brought honour to the country by winning 14 gold medals at the Culinary Olympics in Germany this year.

The Latin American and Caribbean market has been a key contributor to the growth in tourist arrivals this year. The number of arrivals from the region rose 64.0 percent to 1,448 from January to November this year compared to 883 during the corresponding period in 2011.

Eastern Europe and Africa were the other contributors to the tourism growth trajectory this year with 45.5 percent and 46.8 percent rise in arrivals.

Arrivals from the traditional Western Europe market and South Asia which is a major market for MICE tourism in Sri Lanka have not been impressive this year. The number of visitors from Western Europe rose 17.0 percent to 329,364 and South Asia 3.9 percent to 220,114.

Tourists from East Asia recorded a noteworthy growth this year with 34.6 percent to 115,672 visitors.

Visitors from the Middle East declined 4.8 percent to 50,096 during the eleven months this year.