Tourist arrivals fall 17.7% in Feb

• Sharp drop driven by coronavirus 
• Industry sees 11th consecutive monthly decline year on year since Easter Sunday setback though rate of dip tapering 

By Charumini de Silva

Tourist arrivals fell by 17.7% to 207,507 in February from a year earlier, largely influenced by the sharp drop in visitors from China, following the outbreak of novel coronavirus COVID-19.

February marked the second consecutive month of decline in tourist arrivals. In January, arrivals fell by 6.5% to 228,434. Since April 2019, following the Easter Sunday terror attacks, Sri Lanka has witnessed monthly decline in tourist arrivals year-on-year in comparison to 2018 and 2019 though the rate of dip is tapering. 

Cumulative arrivals in the first two months of 2020 were down by 12% to 435,941.

In February, the largest source market for tourists was India, followed by the United Kingdom and Russian Federation.

Sri Lanka Tourism in January said they were expecting a sharper slowdown in tourists in February, after the island stopped giving on-arrival visas to Chinese visitors.

China is among the top three source markets for tourists for Sri Lanka, according to the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA), with 167,863 visitors, 9% of the total, holidaying in 2019. In January alone, Sri Lanka received 22,363 Chinese tourists, which accounted for 10% of the total traffic. In 2019, Sri Lanka received 217,477 tourists from North East Asia and 68,904 from South East Asia.

However, with the global epidemic, travel agencies and tour operators say the Chinese market has plunged to zero levels.

On average, Sri Lanka receives about 4,800 Chinese tourists per week from various airlines, including China Southern, China Eastern, China Air and SriLankan Airlines.

Sources told the Daily FT that 92% of tourists travelled by air, while the total arrivals by sea/ships for the month of February 2020 was 16,367.

Health Services Director General Dr. Anil Jasinghe told reporters yesterday that permission to disembark for those who arrive in Sri Lanka on passenger ships has been halted with immediate effect, due to the risks posed by the rapid spread of novel coronavirus COVID-19.

CdeS