10 October 2024 02:10 am Views - 1206
Sri Lanka welcomed 25,966 tourists in the first six days of October, marking a rather slow start for the month, ahead of the winter season, the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) data showed.
In the six days, the daily average tourist arrivals were slightly up at 4327.6 tourists, compared to the daily average of 4071.3 tourists recorded for September this year. The tourist arrivals grew at the slowest pace in September, with a 9.11 percent year-on-year growth rate.
India continued to account for the largest source of arrivals in the period, with 7,749 arrivals, followed by 2,437 and 1,737 arrivals from China and Germany. The United Kingdom, Australia and Russia occupied the fourth, fifth and sixth positions accordingly.
Meanwhile, the cumulative tourist arrivals reached 1,510,774 tourists. India took the top spot, with 294,305 and the UK remained as the second largest source market, with 138,125 arrivals, followed by Russia, with 128,294 arrivals.
According to the historical data, Sri Lanka attracts few more thousand tourists in October compared to September. The SLTDA forecasted 155,070 tourist arrivals for October.