Wednesday, 11 March 2015 00:00
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China outstripped Britain to become the second largest source of tourists to Sri Lanka, growing by 85% in February compared with the previous year, the latest data released by the Government showed this week, presenting both an opportunity and a challenge.
Chinese tourist arrivals of 21,098 in February 2014 expanded to 39,160 in 2015, which is an increase of 85.6%. The latest information released by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Board (SLTDB) showed Chinese arrivals comfortably outstripping British tourist figures of 28,622 for the same month.
Overall, the month recorded 165,541 tourists arriving in the country compared to the 141,878 who arrived in February 2014. In the first two months of this year, 321,787 tourists visited the island, an increase of 11.6% compared to the same period in 2014. While this is undoubtedly good news what is even more interesting is the impressive increase of Chinese tourists, especially at a time when arrivals are dipping in the Maldives.
Chinese tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka kicked off the New Year positively, growing by 8.9% in January. In the first month of 2015 Chinese arrivals grew to 11,735 from 10,779 in January 2014.
Chinese tourists to the tiny island in the Indian Ocean have risen rapidly over the last two years with 2014 ending at an all-time high. In 2013 only 54,288 Chinese tourists visited Sri Lanka but the numbers ballooned to 128,166 by the end of last year, growing an impressive 136.1%.
The tropical island is aiming to attract 2.5 million arrivals by 2016, buoyed by fast increasing numbers from China but it will have to innovate and find new products to not only grow Chinese numbers but also ensure that they return for multiple visits.
In a phenomenon that caught many industry experts by surprise, the annual growth rate of Chinese tourist arrivals slowed from 20% at the end of June to 9% by the end of December last year.
January 2015 was recorded as the worst month in terms of Chinese tourist arrivals in the Maldives with a strong negative growth of 33.1%. China, being the number one market for the Maldives, the negative growth registered from the market was reflected in the total arrivals to the country. One reason could be that less than 10% of Chinese tourists were repeat visitors.
In contrast, the survey found that more than 25% of British, Italian and German tourists visited the Maldives between two to 10 times.
In 1990, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia became the pioneer batch of nations granted the Approved Destination Status. Today, at least 116 have been granted this status, vying for a share of China’s outbound tourism.
With China’s outbound numbers soaring from 29 million in 2004 to 109 million last year, with a record S$ 223 billion spent overseas, Sri Lanka will not only have to ramp up its offerings as a tourist destination but also work to keep its diplomatic engagement with the Chinese Government on an even keel. Increased tension over the suspension of the Port City project and other deals inked by the previous Government could have very current consequences for the tourism industry, which along with remittances, are a cornerstone of the economy.
