Tourist arrivals slump to four-month low in Sept.

• September draws 164,609 tourists, but fails to achieve 150,983 monthly target
• YTD arrivals reach over 1.48 m
• India, China and UK emerge as top markets in September
• Sri Lanka must attract 815,192 visitors in three months to achieve 2.3 m arrivals target

By Charumini de Silva

Tourist arrivals in September dipped to a four-month low confirming the serious impact the outsourcing of visa processing has had on the leisure industry.

Sri Lanka welcomed over 122,000 tourists in September, as anticipated by industry experts though the figure fell short of the monthly target of 150,983 (https://www.ft.lk/front-page/Tourist-arrivals-fall-short-in-September-amid-visa-issuance-crisis/44-767396). 

The month saw a total of 122,140 arrivals, bringing the total for the first nine months of 2024 to 1.48 million. 

Despite a 9.11% year-on-year (YoY) growth, the rate of increase has slowed compared to earlier in the year. Moreover, September's arrivals were still 18% lower than the benchmark year 2018, when 149,087 tourists visited the country. Arrivals in September was the lowest since 112,128 recorded in May.

The average daily arrivals also dropped significantly from 5,310 in August to 4,071 in September, reflecting a continuing trend of missed monthly targets. So far in 2024, the shortfall has ranged between 8.4% and 23%, with September showing a 19% deficit.

In September, India topped the arrivals with 27,887 tourists, followed by China with 9,078 and the UK with 8,688.

India also remains the single largest source market year-to-date (YTD) with 286,556 tourists, while the UK stands at second place with 136,464 visitors and Russia at third position with 127,232 arrivals.

As Sri Lanka targets 2.3 million tourist arrivals by the end of the year, the country must welcome an additional 815,192 visitors in the next three months, a challenging prospect amid the Government not being in a position to roll out the free-visa initiative for 35 nationals from this month.