Sri Lanka misses October arrivals target amid Cricket World Cup impact

Thursday, 2 November 2023 02:36 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

October draws 109,999 but falls short of 147,789 monthly target
First 10 months arrival at 1.12 m up by 160% YoY, but performance below 40% compared to 2018
Sri Lanka Tourism fails to reach monthly arrivals target for three consecutive months
India, Russia, UK retain title of top source markets YTD
Russia makes strong comeback in October with charter flights resuming services

Sri Lanka’s tourism industry faced a setback as it failed to meet its monthly target of 147,789 arrivals due to a slight drop in visitors, especially from India, in light of the ongoing Cricket World Cup.

However, there was an upturn in numbers towards the latter part of the month, as charter flights resumed operations into Colombo.

During October, a total of 109,999 tourists arrived in Sri Lanka, pushing the year-to-date (YTD) figure to over 1.12 million, indicating an impressive 159.8% year-on-year (YoY) growth. However, when compared to the benchmark year of 2018, the performance still falls short of 40%.

October also marks the third consecutive month where the country has missed its target, despite high hopes of attracting much-needed tourists to boost foreign exchange earnings for a faster economic revival.

India retained its position as the single biggest source market in October as well as YTD, whilst Russia and the UK followed closely.

Russia has made a strong comeback in October, in sync with the onset of the winter season and the resumption of direct charter flights, while the UK has remained in its position. However, there was a surprising decline in arrivals from China despite available air connectivity.

According to the latest data released by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) tourist arrivals from India in the first 10 months is at 228,532, Russia 142,929 and UK 99,297.

On Tuesday, Sri Lanka Tourism officials expressed optimism in setting sights on achieving 1.55 million tourist arrivals by year-end, with a target income of $ 2.7 billion.