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A group of tourists exploring Viharamahadevi Park in Colombo recently
– Pic by Pradeep Pathirana
By Charumini de Silva
Sri Lanka Tourism is upwardly revising the tourist arrivals forecast for 2023 from 1.55 million to an ambitious goal of luring 2 million – a move influenced by the remarkable record rise in March arrivals.
Sri Lanka recorded the highest post-COVID arrivals figure of 125,495 in March, propelling the cumulative figure to 335,679 in the first quarter, continuing the growth momentum of over 100,000 tourist arrivals in three consecutive months after 2019.
“After a series of major setbacks from 2019, Sri Lanka’s tourism industry has made a strong comeback in 2023. Our earlier forecast was at 1.55 million arrivals for 2023, but given the significant rise in arrivals in the first quarter and the boost in Chinese arrivals, we decided to revise the target to 2 million,” Tourism Minister Harin Fernando told the Daily FT.
The growth in the first quarter of tourist arrival is 18% compared to the same period last year, but still 53% lower than the first quarter of the benchmark year 2018.
Russia continues to lead as the top source market reflecting 23.8% or 79,891 of total arrivals during the first quarter of 2023, followed by India with 13.8% or 46,432, the United Kingdom with 8.4% or 28,111, Germany with 7.7% or 25,849, and France with 5% or 16,744.
The Minister commended all industry stakeholders for their resilient and dynamic attitude to overcoming obstacles and for revitalising the industry.
He said the short-term and medium-term strategies rolled out by Sri Lanka Tourism will assist to reach the year-end goal.
Minister Fernando also revealed Sri Lanka Tourism has planned its first roadshow post-COVID pandemic in China from 17 to 21 April targeting three key cities including Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangzhou.
“The combined effect of pent-up demand, ease of travel restrictions and regular flights will definitely be a favourable condition for Sri Lanka during the off-peak season,” he said.
National carrier – SriLankan Airlines will be starting nine flights to China per week this month, whilst Chinese airlines will operate three flights per week, resulting in an influx of Chinese tourists to the country.
The Minister also said they are planning another roadshow in India, targeting three cities in the south –Chennai, Bangalore and Cochin. Despite Sri Lanka Tourism not opting for a global communication blitz in 2023, it will focus on nine main markets identified as; India, Russia, China, the UK, France, Germany, the Middle East, and Nordic countries.
The MICE tourism segment is earmarked as a key segment Sri Lanka looks to explore this year to push the numbers and earnings. Analysis opined that the continuous positive publicity at the global level was also a major factor for the boost in arrivals post-political instability just last year.
Tourism earnings in the first two months of 2023 were at $ 331.7 million reflecting a 3.3% increase from the corresponding period of last year, whilst February earnings stood at $ 169.9 million, the Central Bank data showed.
Sri Lanka lost over $ 10 billion in foreign exchange earnings, which generate over $ 4.3 billion annually, due to the pandemic during the past two years.
