Wednesday Dec 25, 2024
Wednesday Dec 25, 2024
Monday, 9 December 2024 02:15 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Russian tourists have given a kickstart to December arrivals, with the country welcoming nearly 24,000 visitors in the first four days of December.
From 1-4 December, Sri Lanka welcomed a total of 23,958 tourists, propelling the year-to-date (YTD) figure to over 1.82 million visitors.
Russia emerged as the top source market in December so far with 4,418 tourists, relegating India to second place with 4,317, whilst the UK remained at third place with 1,592.
The boost in arrivals was largely influenced by the resumption of Russian charter flights ahead of the winter holidays. In addition, tourists were also received from Poland, China, Australia, Germany, France, Bangladesh, and the US.
The daily average arrivals, however, have slightly declined to 5,990 in the first four days of December, compared to 6,377 registered in the same period in November.
India stood strong as the top tourist source market for Sri Lanka YTD with a cumulative number of arrivals at 368,410, followed by Russia with 166,652 and the UK with 161,174.
Industry analysts opined achieving the revised annual target will require strong performance in December, to edge closer to the revised 2024 target of 2 million visitors. The industry requires another 171,179 visitors within this month.
