Tourist arrivals surge exceeding 850,000 YTD

 Pic by Upul Abayasekara 

• Tourism Minister Harin Fernando projects sustained growth throughout 2024 
• Indian holidaymakers lead arrivals so far in May followed by Maldives and Germany

Tourist arrivals exceeded 65,000 in the first 17 days of the month, bringing the year-to-date (YTD) total to over 850,000 visitors reinforcing the industry’s rebound.

“We have exceeded the 65,000 mark of arrivals for this month as of Friday. It is encouraging to see the boost in arrivals, which reflects a positive outlook for the industry. This also has pushed our cumulative arrivals to 850,000. We are optimistic that the industry will maintain its growth momentum and achieve the set targets for the year, with the implementation of additional initiatives,” Tourism Minister Harin Fernando told the Daily FT.

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As per provisional data released by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority, during the first 16 days of the month it has welcomed a total of 61,735 visitors. 

The boost in arrivals were largely influenced by Indian tourists, closely followed by Maldivian and German travellers. 

The daily average arrivals have dropped to 3,858 compared to over 6,747 levels in the peak season during the first quarter, reflecting the lean period. 

India remains the top tourist source market YTD reflecting 16% or 138,013 visitors, followed by Russia with 109,194 (13%), the UK 76,034 (9%), Germany 63,163 (7%) and China 51,655 (6%) respectively.

The tourism industry has also managed to rebound with earnings exceeding $ 1.25 billion in tandem with the boost in arrivals so far during the first four months.

For 2024, Sri Lanka Tourism expects to draw 2.3 million arrivals and generate an income of over $ 4 billion.