Aug. records highest monthly tourist arrivals so far this year

Sri Lanka received the highest monthly tourist arrivals of 5,040 in August so far this year, amid relatively eased COVID-19-related restrictions globally and locally, aggressive vaccination drive and growing consumer confidence.

Sri Lanka received only 2,429 tourists in July and 1,497 tourists in June. The cumulative tourist arrivals up to August amount to 23,377, down 95.2 percent over last year, when over 500,000 tourists had visited the country from January to March 18, 2020, before Sri Lanka closed its borders for travellers until December.

According to the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA), the largest source markets recorded for the month of August 2021 were Canada, Germany and the UK, followed by Pakistan and India.

Canada became the top source country in August, with 594, up from 178 in July, followed by Germany 515, the UK 489, Pakistan 456 and India 405.

There were 311 visitors from the US, 248 from France and 247 from Russia.

Canada and the US are among countries that have high levels of Sri Lankan migrants.

Meanwhile, as regions, Europe became the largest source of tourist traffic to Sri Lanka, with 48.1 percent of the total traffic received in August 2021. Asia and the Pacific accounted for 31.8 percent of the total traffic while the Americas accounted for 18.1 percent.