Tourist arrivals surpass initial target

by Uditha Kumarasinghe

The number of tourist arrivals in 2013 surpassed the initial target of 1.2 million to reach 1.27 million, a 26.7 percent increase compared to the previous year.

According to the Central Bank's Annual Report 2013 although Western Europe continued to be the prime source market for tourists to Sri Lanka, tourist arrivals from emerging market economies increased significantly in 2013. Tourist arrivals from Western Europe as a share of total arrivals dropped to 33 percent in 2013. The number of tourist arrivals from this region increased by 12.9 percent, year-on-year in 2013.

Tourist arrivals from East Asia, South Asia, Eastern Europe and the Middle East increased due to the strategic promotional campaigns launched during the year focussing on emerging markets. The South Asian region which was the second major market accounted for 25.6 percent of the arrivals in 2013 compared to 24.6 percent in 2012.

Tourist arrivals from all regions recorded a significant growth in 2013 compared to the previous year. India remained the leading tourist country followed by the UK, Germany, the Maldives and France. These countries accounted for 45.2 percent of tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka in 2013. Around 76.9 percent of the tourists visited Sri Lanka for pleasure while 7.4 percent have came for business , the report said. Earnings from tourism continued to grow considerably in 2013. The sharp increase in tourist arrivals and an increase in average spending per tourist resulted in earnings from tourism recording US$ 1,715 million in 2013 compared to US$ 1,039 million in 2012.

The Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) and other relevant authorities have stepped up efforts to reach the target of 2.5 million tourists by 2016.