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Tourist arrivals in June almost doubled to 63,072 from 37,802 in May, though 57% lower compared to the previous year, and year to date performance remains negative.
As per the latest data released by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA), arrivals in June was down by 57% from the corresponding month of last year. In May, arrivals were only 37,802, lower by 71% from the previous year.
June numbers were lowest for the year as against the average of 240-250,000 in the first quarter of this year. In April, arrivals were down 7.5% to 167,000.
First half arrivals amounted to 1 million, down by 13.4% from a year earlier.
Asia and the Pacific became the largest sources of tourist traffic to Sri Lanka accounting for 54% of the total traffic received in June.
Europe accounted for 32% of the total traffic, America 9%, Middle East 4%, and Africa 1%.
India, Australia, United Kingdom, China, and the Maldives were Sri Lanka’s top five international tourist generating markets in the month of June this year. India was the largest source of tourist traffic to Sri Lanka, accounting for 24% of the total traffic received in June.
Australia and the United Kingdom accounted for 7% of the total traffic, while China and the Maldives accounted for 6% and 5%, respectively. The total number of international tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka during June was 63,072. Compared to June last year, there was a drop of 57% when the arrivals were 146,828.
This month, the largest source market for tourists was India, followed by the Australia, United Kingdom and China. Almost 97% of tourists travelled by air to Sri Lanka.
As at 30 June, 1,008,449 of tourists had visited Sri Lanka for this year. It is a decline of 13.4% from last year’s figures, when 1,164,647 tourists had visited the country during the same period.
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