Monthly tourist arrivals fall below 100, 000 for first time this year

• May tourist arrivals recorded at 83, 309
• Jan – May cumulative arrivals at 524, 486
• India, Russian Federation, and Germany emerge as top three markets

Tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka fell below the 100,000 mark for the first time this year due to the drop in momentum in the month of May,

Provisional data from Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) showed that in May, the island nation welcomed total of 83, 309 international visitors. When compared with the corresponding month in 2022, the arrivals increased by 175.5 percent year-on-year (YoY). 

The staggering increase is due to the island nation having grappled with the massive political and economic crisis that started April 2022, which resulted in source markets issuing travel advisories against visiting Sri Lanka.

However, May recorded the lowest tourist arrivals for this year so far. Typically, through out the years, tourist arrivals take a dip in May due to it being off-season.

The month of May recorded a daily arrival average of 2,687, and a weekly arrival average of 20,847, both of which were the lowest recorded for 2023.

Accordingly, the cumulative tourist arrivals for 1 January to 31 May reached 524, 486. Ranking as the top tourism traffic generator was India, which contributed to 28 percent of the total tourist arrivals. The Russian Federation ranked second, bringing in 9 percent of the total international visitors.

Moving up the list was Germany, which emerged as the third largest source market for Sri Lanka tourism, overtaking the United Kingdom. Germany contributed 8 percent to the total tourist arrivals, whereas the UK brought in 7 percent.

Other key markets included Australia and China, accounted 5 percent each of the total tourist traffic.

Sri Lanka has been successful in realising 26 percent of its tourist arrivals target for the year. It would need to attract 1, 475, 514 international visitors in the next seven months, approximately 211,000 tourists per month to meet 2 million arrivals target.