Thursday, 18 July 2013 00:15
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500,000 figure surpassed a month faster than in 2012
Year-to-date 2013 performance shows 13% growth
By Cheranka Mendis
Aided by a healthy 13% improvement in June, tourist arrivals in the first half of the year have crossed the half-a-million mark.
As per the latest data released by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) yesterday, arrivals between January and June amounted to 512,281, up by 13.1% over the first half of last year.
In June arrivals rose by 12.8% to 73,628, though month-on-month the performance was lower as against the 22% enjoyed in May this year over the corresponding month of last year.
The country is targeting 1.25 million tourists this year, up from one million in 2012. Earnings from tourism are projected to $ 1.5 billion, up from $ 1 billion last year. Up to April, earnings amounted to $ 407.3 million, up by 19.8% over the first four months of last year.
The top 10 markets as at end-June show India continuing its reign as Sri Lanka’s biggest tourist market with 83,981 tourists, followed by the traditional markets of the UK and Germany with 55,286 and 36,700 respectively.
Also in the top 10 are France (30,049), Maldives (27,339), the Middle East (24,497), Australia (22,387), USA (16,736), China (16,582) and Russia (83,981).
The largest arrivals from a single country during the month also came from neighbouring India which recorded an arrival base of 13,856 in June, a 0.7% increase from a year earlier.
Recognised as a traditional market, the UK, which has established itself as the second biggest tourist generator to Sri Lanka, recorded an increase of 5.35%, even though the numbers only showed 6,400 tourists visiting Sri Lanka for the month.
In third, fourth and fifth places were Maldives, Australia and Germany, reading 5,454 (29.4%), 3,718 (3.4%) and 3,248 (6.4%) respectively.
Last month (May), Germany and France took third and fifth places amongst Sri Lanka’s tourist generation markets. In June, France fell to ninth position with only 2,545 tourists, whereas Canada, USA and China sent more tourists to enjoy the beauty of Sri Lanka.
Regionally, South Asia recorded the largest number of arrivals at 21,915 with a 9.6% growth over the same month of the previous year. Arrivals from Western Europe were 19,731 (14%), East Asia 11,679, Middle East 8,842 and North America 6,304. Tourists from Australasia were recorded at 4,176, Eastern Europe 2,447, Africa 425 and Latin America and the Caribbean 115.
When assessing percentage growth for the month, the largest growth was seen from China which saw an increase of 125.3%, amounting to 2,765 arrivals. This was followed by the Philippines with an increase of 91.7%.
Negative growth was seen from Finland (61.7%), Ukraine (42.7%), Canada (7.1%) and Malaysia (6.7%), while Eastern Europe, a key region for the country, also showed a negative growth of 5.9% from a year earlier.
Comparing the first six months of 2013 with 2012, negative growth has been experienced from the key market India with a fall of 1.7%, while Singapore (22%), Taiwan (12.2%) and Canada (1.7%) also showed decreases.
