Published on : Saturday, January 5, 2019
According to official data, Sri Lanka’s tourist arrivals during 2018 registered a 10.3 percent growth, reaching 2.3 million compared to 2.1 million tourist arrivals in 2017.
India, China, Britain and Germany continued to be the leading markets in 2018 for Sri Lanka, while a significant growth was also seen from Australia.
In terms of monthly arrivals in 2018, March, February, June, and November recorded the highest growth rates, while December recorded the highest number of arrivals within the year.
“Although the tourist arrivals for the year 2018 was fallen slightly short due to the political instability we saw post Oct. 26, I think in terms of earnings we have reached the 3.5 billion dollar target,” said Minister of Tourism Development John Amaratunga.
Mr. Amaratunga said that the tourism sector is targeting 3 million tourists this year with earnings of 4 billion U.S. Dollars by the end of the year.
He said that the ministry have organized massive promotional campaigns in India and China throughout 2019 and they are confident to receive a higher number of tourists from these destinations as Sri Lanka have transformed into a popular tourist destination globally.
Tags: Sri Lanka