Sri Lanka records over 109,000 tourist arrivals during the month of October

During October, a total of 109,999 tourists arrived in Sri Lanka, pushing the year-to-date (YTD) figure to over 1.12 million, indicating an impressive 159.8% year-on-year (YoY) growth. However, when compared to the benchmark year of 2018, the performance still falls short of 40%. 

October also marks the third consecutive month where the country has missed its target, despite high hopes of attracting much-needed tourists to boost foreign exchange earnings for a faster economic revival.

India retained its position as the single biggest source market in October as well as YTD, whilst Russia and the UK followed closely.

Russia has made a strong comeback in October, in sync with the onset of the winter season and the resumption of direct charter flights, while the UK has remained in its position. However, there was a surprising decline in arrivals from China despite available air connectivity.

According to the latest data released by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) tourist arrivals from India in the first 10 months is at 228,532, Russia 142,929 and UK 99,297. 

On Tuesday, Sri Lanka Tourism officials expressed optimism in setting sights on achieving 1.55 million tourist arrivals by year-end, with a target income of $ 2.7 billion.

Source: Sri Lanka misses October arrivals target amid Cricket World Cup impact | Daily FT