May tourist arrivals up by 39%

10 June 2011 07:45 am

Sri Lanka's tourist arrivals rose 39 percent in May from a year earlier as the island attracts more foreign visitors after the end of its long civil war.

Arrivals have risen every month on a year-on-year basis since the end of the war in May 2009.

The number of visitors in May hit 48,943 from 35,213 a year ago and arrivals in the first five months of 2011 have jumped 40.2 percent to 327,902.

Arrivals hit a record high of 654,476 in 2010 with a 46.1 percent year-on-year rise and broke the previous record of 566,202 set in 2004, when a peace accord between the government and the separatist Tamil Tigers was in place.

Tourist arrivals into Sri Lanka are forecast to grow by 20 percent to a record of more than 780,000 this year.

Tourism revenue rose 54.7 percent in first four months of this year to $270.6 million compared to the corresponding period last year after jumping 64.8 percent year-on-year to a record $575.9 million in 2010, the central bank's latest data showed.

The following table shows tourist arrivals in Sri Lanka: 2011 2010 Change (in %)

May 48,943 35,213 39.0%

Jan-May 327,902 233,922 40.2%

* Sri Lanka aims to attract $2.7 billion in investments to upgrade its post-war tourism capacity, with the goal of growing revenue to $2.5 billion by 2016.

* The hotel and travel index on the Colombo Stock Exchange has risen nearly fourfold since the end of the war.

* Tourism is one of the main foreign exchange earners for Sri Lanka's $50 billion economy along with remittances from abroad, garments and tea.

* Sri Lanka, through its 2011 budget, has imposed a tax of $20 per room night on five-star hotels if they fail to charge a minimum rate of $125. ($1=109.465 Sri Lankan rupee) (REUTERS)