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Tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka surpassed the one million mark in July, reflecting the country’s continuous momentum.
The milestone was reached thanks to the largest-ever arrival figure of 175,804 in July, up by 31.2% thereby bringing the first seven months’ haul to 1.005 million. In comparison to a year earlier, the 2015 performance reflected a strong 17% growth.
Arrivals in July, which is the off-season in the context of the traditional Western European markets, surpassed 2015’s best month of February, which recorded 165,541 visitors.
July also recorded the highest year-on-year growth in 2015 so far.
China produced 25,120 tourists in July, up by 65.5%, bringing its total in the first seven months to 119,705, up by 77.6%. India, the biggest source market, saw arrivals of 24,681 in July, up by 28% over a year earlier. Its cumulative figure was 170,134, up by 27.4%.
The UK, which is now third, saw a growth of 24% to 20,642 in July and 93,223 up to July reflecting a 12.6% growth.
Western Europe remains the biggest source region with 321,472 arrivals by end July, up by 15%. All markets out of Western Europe have reported growth in the first seven months of this year. South Asia is second with 245,587 arrivals, up by 21%. Thanks to the boom from China, East Asia is trailing closely with 205,274 arrivals, up by 31%.
