July tourist arrivals, an all-time high

Tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka hit an all-time high last month. The number of arrivals which was 209,351, represented a growth of 19.1 percent compared to July last year and is the highest number recorded in a single month since records began in the sixties.

What is significant is that last month’s arrival figure is higher than even the figure recorded last December which is traditionally Sri Lanka’s highest grossing month in the tourism calendar. Last December too was a record with 206,114 arrivals but last month’s performance has eclipsed this mark.

Minister of Tourism Development, Lands and Christian Religious Affairs, John Amaratunga said, “Though many say that there is no visible campaign, the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Board has been quietly getting about its task and delivering the numbers.”

He said that a worldwide destination promotion campaign on a multi-media platform will be launched by November this year.

“This campaign will essentially target the high season traffic and will use digital platforms in a big way,” the Minister said.

According to data released by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA), from January to July this year, the Western Europe has been the biggest contributor in terms of numbers generating 380,725 visitors.

This region generated 321,472 visitors over the corresponding period last year. The second highest generating region was South Asia which is dominated by India with 283,689 visitors, while the third highest generating region was East Asia dominated by China which produced 250,274 visitors from January to July 2016. Both these markets have recorded significant growth compared to the corresponding period last year.

In terms of growth, according to country-specific data, China with 163,473 visitors continues to show the highest growth in the number of arrivals at 36.6 percent for the period January to July this year. The second highest growth in arrivals has been from Australia with 38,657 visitors, a growth rate of 19.8 percent followed by the UK with 110,649 visitors - 18.7 percent. “We are happy to see growth all round especially in emerging markets such as Australia which is very encouraging. We are on course to another record breaking year,” Minister Amaratunga said.