Tourism Minister renews hope on 200,000 monthly arrivals

Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga during inspection visit to BIA

• Tourist arrivals cross 50,000 in first 15 days of Feb.
• 132,653 tourists arrive so far in 2022
• Russia, India, Ukraine, UK and Germany among top source markets​

Given the sharp rebound in tourist arrivals this month, Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga yesterday renewed monthly expectations to 200,000 travellers.

“Earlier, only got individual or family travellers, but we observe that group travelling has begun. As over 100,000 tourists visit Sri Lanka on a regular basis, we hope the number of tourists could soon top 200,000,” he told journalists yesterday during an inspection visit to the Bandaranaike International Airport in Katunayake. 

As per provisional data released by the Tourism Ministry yesterday, Sri Lanka has received 50,326 travellers as of 15 February, pushing the cumulative arrivals to 132,653.

Regardless of a surge in its COVID cases and tensed diplomatic situation, Russia continues to dominate among the top tourist source market for Sri Lanka with 20,877 followed by India with 17,533, UK 13,409, Ukraine 11,061 and Germany 9,398.

In addition, tourists were also received from countries such as France, Poland, Kazakhstan, Czech Republic and Canada.

To cater to the steady increase in arrivals, the Tourism Minister yesterday instructed the airport officials to take immediate steps to reduce congestion. 

“The airport is a reflection of a country first impression. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the Airport officials to assist travellers with an efficient service to ensure they reach the final destination as soon as possible,” he added.