3 November 2023 07:31 am
Sri Lanka has not met its monthly tourist arrivals targets for three consecutive months, with October falling short as well, the data released by the tourism authority showed.
Provisional data released by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) showed that for the 31 days of October, tourist arrivals totaled 109,998, significantly down from an arrival target of 147,789.
October arrivals are also lower than that achieved in September, despite the SLTDA having projected higher numbers.
While tourist arrivals were expected to increase month-on-month from September, data shows a decline in the rate of arrivals.
While SLTDA and the Ministry of Tourism maintain their confidence in Sri Lanka exceeding the 1.55 million arrivals target by the end of 2023, analysts have recently voiced differing opinions.
For the first 10 months of the year ending October 31, Sri Lanka has drawn a total of 1,125,455 international visitors, realising 72 percent of the yearly target. Sri Lanka would have to bring in at least 212,272 tourists in the next two months.
For November, SLTDA forecasts arrivals to total 204, 114, and 242, 135 for December.
For the month of October, India ranked as the largest tourist traffic generator for Sri Lanka, accounting for 26 percent of the total arrivals with 28,222 visitors.
The Russian Federation ranked second, contributing 10 percent with 10,629 arrivals, followed by the United Kingdom, which accounted for 8 percent of the total arrivals with 8,454 international visitors.
Other key markets included Germany, China, Australia, Maldives, United States, France, and Spain.