Tourist arrivals up 25.2% in July 2014

Thursday, 7 August 2014 01:14 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Tourist arrivals rose by 25.2% in July this year compared to the same period in 2013, the data released by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) showed. The month recorded 133,971 tourists arriving in the country compared to the 107,016 arrived in July 2013. In the first seven months of this year a total of 861,324 tourists arrived in the island recording a 24.7% increase from the 690,589 came during the corresponding period in 2013. Most of the tourist arrivals were from Western Europe with 278,667 tourists visiting in the first seven months of this year recording a 15.6% increase over corresponding 2013 figures. For the month of July 54,857 tourists arrived in the island, 10.3% more than July 2013. Arrivals from North America rose by 12.1% with 42,822 visitors for the first seven months in the year while arrivals from Eastern Europe increased 44.1% with the arrival of 92,903 tourists. Most of the arrivals from Eastern Europe were from Russia with 41,381 arrivals representing a 72.0% increase.

Tourist arrivals from Middle East rose in July by 55% to 5,998 and for the year arrivals increased by 14.0% to 44,601. In the first seven months of the year 156,677 East Asians arrived in the island, an increase of 53.1%. Number of Chinese tourists arriving in the island rose by an impressive 144.2% to reach 67,408. Arrivals from South Asia, the other region from where most of the tourists come, increased by 19.5% in the year with 203,004 tourists flocking to the island while, arrivals from India increased 24.5% to 133,515 in the first seven months of 2014. In the first six months of the year, 33,920 Australians arrived in the country, an 11.2% increase from the previous year. Sri Lanka has earned $ 901.8 million from tourism in the first five months of this year, an increase of 35.8% compared to last year.