January tourist arrivals up 13.4%

14 March 2013 03:05 am Views - 2715

Sri Lanka’s tourist arrivals rose 13.4 percent yearon-year (YoY) to 97,411 in January, the unusually delayed data issued by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority showed.

Arrivals from Western Europe rose 13.7 percent YoY to 41,484 visitors, with tourists from Germany and the UK accounting for nearly 17,000.

Tourists from Eastern European countries including Russia and Ukraine rose 18.2 percent YoY to 8,083, while the number of Middle Eastern tourists who arrived in Sri Lanka in January rose to 4,077 from 3,950 in the same month of 2012.

 Arrivals from East Asia, which includes China rose 7.6 percent YoY to 10,039 visitors, while visitors from neighbouring India rose 7 percent YoY to 15,631.

Arrivals hit a record high of over one million last year with annual revenue from tourism also jumping to an all-time peak of $1.04 billion, exceeding government estimates.

Tourism is one of the main foreign exchange earners for Sri Lanka’s $59 billion economy, along with remittances from expatriate workers, garment manufacturing and tea growing.