Friday Nov 08, 2024
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Friday Nov 08, 2024
Saturday, 23 December 2023 01:26 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Sri Lanka celebrated the arrival of over 1.4 million tourists, with still hopes of achieving the ambitious target of 1.55 million arrivals by the end of the year.
This remarkable milestone marks the highest number of visitors to the country since 2019 when Sri Lanka welcomed 1.9 million arrivals.
In the first 21 days of December, Sri Lanka welcomed 128,047 tourists, propelling the cumulative arrivals over the 1.4 million mark.
The average daily arrivals have also reached 6,097 — a significant increase compared to November’s figure of 5,070. The resumption of charter flights and regular cruise liners has played a pivotal role in boosting arrivals in December.
Despite this commendable progress, industry experts are cautiously optimistic about reaching the ambitious monthly target of 242,135 arrivals for December arrivals, with just 10 days to go.
India, Russia, the UK, Germany and Australia continue to lead the charts as the top five source markets for Sri Lanka in December so far.
Originally, the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) projected to attract 1.55 million tourists and $ 3 million in earnings, but the target was revised upwards to 2 million amid a surge in arrivals in July. However, the figures were later adjusted back to the initial target of 1.55 million, accompanied by a reduction in earnings expectations to $ 2.7 billion.
