Record tourist arrivals persist; up 67% in April

By Cheranka Mendis

Record tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka persist with April producing a 67% increase, bringing the first four months’ haul to an impressive 278,959.

Data released by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority yesterday showed arrivals in April rose by 66.7 to 63,835 whilst in the first four months total arrivals rose by 40.4% to 278,959. The high inflows are on the back of a 45% growth in arrivals to 650,000 in 2010.

Officials said it was the first time after four years that the industry was able to reach an arrival figure which exceeded 100,000 and the second time in 11 years to have a figure which jumped 200,000. The closest figure was in 2006 which was documented as 209,312.

Arrivals in April, which marks the end of the winter season, however were lower compared to 75,130 achieved in March. Nevertheless, the 67% increase year on year is the highest for a month so far this year.

In January Sri Lanka opened its arms wide to welcome to 74,197 tourists, 65,797 in February and with the ICC World Cup in March another 75,130.

Among the top markets for Sri Lanka, India confirmed its place as number one for the fourth consecutive month, hauling in 14,705 tourists, which showed a 90.2% in April, while the UK again came second with 9,308 tourists (a 33.5% increase from the same month the previous year). France lined up third with 4,147 tourists. Region wise in April the highest numbers were recorded from Western Europe, which saw a 66.9% growth from April 2010 with 23,226 followed by South Asia and East Asia respectively with 19,575 and 6,637.

Quarter-wise the largest tourist group who set foot in Sri Lanka was Indians numbering 52,181 followed by British (37,022), Germans (20,928) and the French with 19,577.

The largest market growth however was seen from Africa which saw a 78.5% growth since Q1 2010 which however amounted to only 998 tourists, next from Latin America and the Caribbean with a 70% growth, which yet again amounted to just 386 and South Asia with a 50.3% increase bringing in 72,123 compared to the 47,992 in Q1 2010.

Asia, which has been identified as a key market for tourism promotion alongside Middle East, as Sri Lanka breaks out from traditional markets and step into new markets, saw healthy increase in the first four months of the year. Sri Lankan managed to attract 13,641 people from the Middle East, while East Asia brought in 27,899 people and South Asia 72,123.

With the Government placing high priority on the tourism industry and planning a rich calendar of events for the year under ‘Visit Sri Lanka 2011,’ the growth of the industry is expected to close at around 800,000 by the end of the year.

This year the first four months have achieved high growth rates compared to the same month in previous years and if the industry manages to grow 26% in arrivals during the next few months, arriving at the perceived 800,000 is an easy task, Deputy Minister of Economic Development Lakshman Yapa Abeywardhana said recently.

Taking into account the sharp yet welcome increases within the industry, the Government is now busying itself by trying to speed up the approval process that will add the necessary infrastructure to the country’s portfolio.

The Minister recently announced that the Cabinet approved legislation to sell land for Rs. 20 million per acre for the industry had been revised and could now be given on Government assessed value prices. This, he said, would speed-up the process.

The Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority also set up a one-stop-shop for investors, which is now fully operational.

He also asserted that the Cabinet approval for selling land had been revised and could now be given legally if the company willing to invest was a local and internationally recognised one.

“This rule however does not apply to Kuchchaveli, but is valid in every other part of Sri Lanka. We have received approval from the Cabinet to follow this as most investors have expressed concern over high property prices in the country,” Abeywardhana said. “This would also ensure that more investment can come in and would accelerate the process further.”

He also announced that 99 hotel projects had been submitted for approval within the year, out of which 12 projects had been granted approval.