Thursday, 4 December 2014 01:05
-
- {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Tourist arrivals rose by 9.4% in November this year compared to the same period in 2013, data released by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) showed.
The month recorded 119,727 tourists arriving in the country compared to the 109,420 who arrived in November 2013.
In the first eleven months of this year a total of 1,348,481 tourists arrived in the island, recording a 20.3% increase from the 1,120,675 who came during the corresponding period in 2013.
Most of the tourist arrivals were from Western Europe with 423,130 tourists visiting in the eleven months of this year, recording a 13.7% increase over corresponding 2013 figures. For the month of November 35,915 tourists arrived in the island, 12.8% more than in November 2013.
Arrivals from North America rose by 11.4% with 62,769 visitors from January to November this year while arrivals from Eastern Europe increased 25.5% with the arrival of 134,155 tourists. However, arrivals from Eastern Europe declined 4.9% for the month.
Tourist arrivals from the Middle East declined in November by 10.5% to 4,327 and for the year arrivals increased by 13.1% to 84,880.
In the first eleven months of the year, 251,268 East Asians arrived in the island, an increase of 51.9%. The number of Chinese tourists arriving in the island rose by an impressive 137.6% to reach 117,766. In November alone tourists arrivals from China increased by 125.3% with 10,878 Chinese tourists visiting the island.
Arrivals from South Asia, the other region from where most of the tourists come, declined in November by 0.3% with 31,135 tourists arriving in the island.
However, for the year, tourist arrivals from South Asia increased by 13.4% to record 325,210 arrivals while arrivals from India increased 16.3% to 216,581 during the first eleven months of 2014.
In the first nine months of the year, 38,885 Australians arrived in the country, an 8.4% increase from the previous year.
Sri Lanka has earned $ 1.6 billion from tourism in the first nine months of this year, an increase of 31.4% compared to last year.
