The number of international tourists to Sri Lanka last October was over 22,000 and the number of tourists so far this year has exceeded 60,000.
Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA)’s latest arrivals report showed that Sri Lanka welcomed a total of 22,771 visitors in October, which the SLTDA authority said is a “modest improvement” following the sharp contraction in arrivals after April.
According to the (SLTDA) monthly report, the largest tourist source markets for October 2021 were India, the United Kingdom and Pakistan. The fourth and Fifth countries are Russia and Germany. The top three source markets accounted for 36.9 %, 9.8 %, and 8.9 % of the total tourism traffic for the month of October 2021.
In October 2021, 8,406 Indian tourists are coming to Sri Lanka, accounting for 36.9 % of all visitors, followed by 2,241 from the United Kingdom, 2,241 from the UK, 1,228 from Russia, 1,196 from Germany, 688 from Canada, 624 from France and 573 from the United States.
Meanwhile, for the month of October, Sri Lanka saw the Europe region accounting for 36.3 % of the total traffic while America’s region accounted for 5.7 %. In comparison to October 2019, all regions have recorded a decline in arrivals to Sri Lanka.
If we read carefully Cumulative analysis for the January – October 2021 period, it showed that India, the United Kingdom, Germany, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine were Sri Lanka’s top five international tourist-generating markets 60,695 visitors to Sri Lanka in the first 10 months.
Sri Lankan citizens have vaccinated over 60 percent of the population. The government already planned and ordered frontline workers and tourism staff to be given a third booster shot country keen to resume tourism.
The SLTDA Authority said that given the adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the region, Asia and the Pacific becoming the biggest contributor to tourism traffic could be considered significant growth.