Average tourist spending falls in Sri Lanka

• Average daily tourist spending has declined to US$ 148 whereas it is US $ 300 in the Maldives 
• Tourist arrivals reached a record 2.36 million last year, surpassing the 2018 peak of 2.33 million
• Tourism foreign exchange earnings have dropped from US$ 4.3 billion to US$ 3.2 billion
• Rupee depreciation gives tourists more spending power, though 
• the lack of tourism-related infrastructure, including facilities for domestic aviation, has stood in the way of attracting high spenders to the country

By Kelum Bandara 

Average tourist spending in Sri Lanka has dropped to US$ 148 a day from US$ 181 in 2018, despite a rise in arrivals, with government authorities now planning for the development of upmarket tourism, an official said yesterday. 
Sri Lanka recorded 2.33 million arrivals in 2018, the highest up until then, and broke this record last year with arrivals totalling 2.36 million. However, foreign exchange revenue has dropped from US$ 4.3 billion to US$ 3.2 billion this year. 
Deputy Minister of Tourism Ruwan Ranasinghe told Daily Mirror that a survey was conducted involving a sample of 10,000 tourists and found that average spending had dropped to US$ 148 a day. 
Asserting that this is a global phenomenon, he said Sri Lanka’s situation is better than that of India, Thailand and Malaysia, where average spending stands at US$ 100, US$ 90 and US$ 120 respectively, but worse than the Maldives, where it is more than double that of Sri Lanka. 
“Globally, it is a decline. In the Maldives, it has dropped to US$ 300 a day from US$ 500. In Sri Lanka, there is another reason—the depreciation of the rupee. In 2018, a tourist got roughly Rs. 180 for a dollar. Today, he or she gets nearly Rs. 300. This means tourists have more rupees in their wallets to spend. 

They can purchase more for one dollar now than then because of the drop in the rupee’s exchange value against the dollar,” he said.  The Deputy Minister said plans are afoot to bring in high-spending tourists in the future. However, he added that the lack of tourism-related infrastructure, including facilities for domestic aviation, has stood in the way of attracting high spenders to the country. There are rooms priced as high as US$ 1,500 per day and as low as US$ 10–15 in Sri Lanka, according to him. 
He also said it is equally important to attract a large number of budget tourists to ensure that revenue trickles down to the grassroots level. 
“Such tourists only travel by normal buses, trains and ordinary taxis. They only make purchases from wayside thambili sellers. Then only do ordinary people benefit directly from tourism,” he said.