Sri Lanka welcomes over 26,000 tourists in first week of April

• First week of April draw 26,912, pushing YTD figure to 362,591
• Shows signs of completion of winter season, daily average arrivals drop slightly below 4,000
• India recoup as top source market with 6,619 travellers, followed by Russia, UK, Germany, Australia
• Tourism Minister Harin Fernando expresses optimism despite a slight drop in arrivals
• Says implementation of initiatives will get Sri Lanka Tourism to its set targets

By Charumini de Silva

The tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka in the first week of April crossed over 26,000, showing signs of the end of the winter season. Sri Lanka welcomed 26,912 tourists from 1 to 7 April, propelling the cumulative figure to 362,591 continuing the growth momentum.

However, tourist arrivals from 1 - 7 April indicate a marginal decline of 2.4% compared to 27,573 tourists welcomed during the first week of record-breaking March 2023. It is also evident that the daily arrival average has dropped to 3,845 from 4,048.

After months, India regained its place as the top source market in the first week of April, reflecting 25% or 6,619, pushing Russia to second position with 14% or 3,871, the United Kingdom with 11% or 3,019, Germany with 9% or 2,519, and Australia with 6% or 1,695.

In addition, tourists were also received from US, France, China, Israel and Canada, the provisional data released by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority showed.

“Despite the slight drop in arrivals, I am confident that the short-term and medium-term strategies rolled out by Sri Lanka Tourism will assist us to reach the year-end goal,” Tourism Minister Harin Fernando told the Daily FT.

Tourism accounts for close to 5% of Sri Lanka’s economy. The industry is hopeful of achieving its upwardly revised target of two million visitors and an income of over three billion in 2023.

Sri Lanka recorded the highest post-COVID arrivals figure of 125,495 in March, continuing the growth momentum of over 100,000 tourist arrivals in three consecutive months after 2019.

Tourism earnings in the first quarter of 2023 were at $ 529.8 million, reflecting a 9.8% increase from the corresponding period of last year, whilst March earnings stood at $ 198.1 million, the latest Central Bank data released showed.

From 17 to 21 April, Sri Lanka Tourism has planned its first roadshow post-COVID pandemic in China targeting three key cities including Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou, whilst planning another roadshow in India, targeting three cities in the south – Chennai, Bangalore and Cochin.

Analysts pointed out that Sri Lanka also continues to bask in the global limelight for its unique tourism offerings and its scenic beauty in 2023.

The latest was when the country was listed top 23 Best Places to Travel this year by the prestigious Forbes magazine in its March edition under the Europe/Asia category. Sri Lanka was also recognised as a ‘Top Wildlife Safaris Outside of Africa’ by the Forbes magazine in February. In addition, the country was ranked ninth in a list of the 50 most Instagrammable places in the world in 2023, based on Big 7 Travel social media data, whilst the destination was also ranked among the top 24 countries to travel in 2023 by TravelTriangle, a leading online holiday marketplace.

The MICE tourism segment is earmarked as a key segment Sri Lanka looks to explore this year to push the numbers and earnings.