Upward trend in tourist arrivals

by Uditha Kumarasinghe

The number of tourists visiting Sri Lanka during the first nine months of 2013 amounted to 801, 210, a 15.5 percent year-on-year increase.

According to the Central Bank’s report on “Recent Economic Developments”, Western Europe remained the largest tourist generating market for Sri Lanka, accounting for 38 percent of tourist arrivals during the first nine months of 2013.

Tourist arrivals from Western Europe increased by 14.4 percent to 307,831 from January to September this year compared to 269,169 during the corresponding period in the previous year. There was a sharp increase in the number of tourist arrivals from UK, Germany, France and the Netherlands, the report said.

Meanwhile, the highest growth of tourist arrivals of 25.2 percent was recorded from East Asia, with significant increases from China and Japan.

With the end of terrorism, Sri Lanka has seen a steady increase in tourist arrivals.