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November tourist arrivals surge, but reaching 200,000 monthly target seems unlikely
- Current rate of tourist arrivals insufficient to meet month-end target
- Crossing 200,000 arrival mark would need daily arrival average to increase to 11, 771
- For first 23 days of Nov. SL welcomed 117, 597 tourists
Tourist arrivals in November have shown improvement; however, the current pace may fall short of reaching the desired milestone of 200,000 or meeting the set month-end target.
Provisional data released by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) showed that for the first 23 days of November, the country welcomed a total of 117, 597. The target set for the month is 204,114.
For the month so far, the daily arrival average is about 5,111, which is the highest recorded so far for the calendar year. However, the improved rate is unlikely to take tourist arrivals beyond the 200,000-mark, as it requires the average daily arrivals for the next seven days to be at least 11, 771.
Accordingly, the island nation’s tourism sector has realised only 57 percent of the total target for November, recording the year-to-date arrivals to 1.24 million, generating an income of US$ 1.59 billion.
Sri Lanka hopes to draw at least 1.55 million international tourists this year, generating an income of US$ 2.5 billion.
The Tourism Ministry and the SLTDA have repeatedly expressed confidence in the tourism sector exceeding the arrival target. However, industry stakeholders have shared that it is likely the arrival target will be missed by a small margin.
For the month of November so far, India ranks as the largest tourist traffic generator for Sri Lanka, accounting for 20 percent of the total arrivals. Ranking second is the Russian Federation, contributing to 16 percent of the arrivals. And in third place is Germany, bringing in 9 percent of the arrivals.
Other key markets include the United Kingdom, Australia, China, and the United States.
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