October records 2013’s highest tourist arrivals in a single month

• Arrivals from January to October record 16.8% growth with 904,015 arrivals

 By Cheranka Mendis Tourist arrivals in the month of October rose by 27.9%, bringing in 102,805 tourists to the country, the highest-ever number for the year, making it to the records as the third highest monthly arrival figure in the history of Sri Lanka’s tourism. December 2012 holds the all-time high record for monthly arrivals to Sri Lanka, with 122,252 tourists, while November statistics of the same year are the second highest with 109,202 arrivals. With a 27.9% jump in the month, total arrivals during the first 10 months of 2013 record a whooping 904,015, a 16.8% growth over the same period last year. The target for 2013 is 1.25 million tourists. Data released by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority yesterday showed India leading growth (as at end October), followed closely by the UK, Germany, France and the Middle East. Arrivals from these countries were 151,896, 100,089, 66,762, 51,015 and 49,250 respectively. Also in the top 10 markets are Maldives (46,805), Australia (39,497), China (34,951), USA (27,957) and Russia (27,409). Contributing to October’s growth, the largest arrivals from a single country during the month came from neighbouring India, which recorded an arrival base of 20,307 in October, a 15% growth from a year earlier. Recognised as a traditional market, the UK, which has established itself as the second biggest tourist generator to Sri Lanka, recorded an increase of 6.9%, with 9,375 tourists visiting Sri Lanka during the month. Taking up positions as third, fourth and fifth are Germany, Maldives and China, with arrivals reading 6,812 (26.5%), 6,538 (86.3%) and 5,798 (163.5%) respectively. Regionally, South Asia recorded the largest number of arrivals with a 29.6% growth over the same month of the previous year, collectively bringing 30,512 tourists to the country. Arrivals from Western Europe were 28,662 (17.9%), East Asia 14,668, Eastern Europe 11,206 and Middle East 7,624. Tourists from North America were recorded as 5,245, Australasia 4,161, Africa 525 and Latin America and the Caribbean 202. When assessing the month’s percentage wise growth, the largest growth was seen from Sweden, at 250.8%, with the total arrivals number at 1,042. This was followed by Indonesia with 177.8% growth and China with 163.5%. Negative growth was seen from Taiwan (-84%), Malaysia (-51.3%), Switzerland (-40.5%), South Africa (-28.2%), Singapore (-10.2%), Denmark (-2.3%) and New Zealand (-0.5%) during the month.