March 19, Colombo (LNW): Over the weekend, Sri Lanka’s tourism industry reached a significant milestone as tourist arrivals exceeded 500,000 within the first three months of the year, with March alone surpassing the 100,000 mark.
This notable surge underscores the sector’s robust momentum towards recovery and growth, marking the first time since the onset of the pandemic that the country has achieved such levels of tourism activity within just two and a half months.
Last year, this milestone was reached in the second week of May.
Provisional data released by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority reveals that from January 1 to March 14, the island nation welcomed a total of 517,808 international visitors.
Notably, the daily average arrivals for March rose to 6,500, culminating in the crossing of the 100,000 arrival threshold on March 16.
If this momentum persists, Sri Lanka is poised to achieve over 200,000 arrivals for the third consecutive month this year, a feat unprecedented since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.
However, a closer examination of weekly arrival data suggests that March may see a lower overall number of tourists compared to February.
In February, the weekly arrival average stood at approximately 55,000, whereas for March, it hovers around 45,000.
In terms of tourist demographics, the Russian Federation emerges as the leading contributor, constituting 15 per cent (13,699) of total arrivals, followed closely by India at 15 per cent, with 13,492 tourists.
Key source markets also include Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and China.
Notably, the tourism sector generated a cumulative revenue of US $687.5 million in the first two months of the year, marking a substantial 118.2 per cent growth compared to the same period in 2023.
In February alone, Sri Lanka recorded US $345.7 million in tourism revenue from 218,350 visitors, significantly contributing to the country’s foreign income and economic stability, particularly amidst ongoing challenges in global markets.
This figure represents a notable increase from the US $161.6 million recorded in February of the previous year.
