Tourist arrivals in July cross 28,000 mark

• Total arrivals for year ending on July 19 reach 440,110
• UK, India and Germany emerge as largest tourist traffic generators for Sri Lanka for July thus far
• India, UK and Russian Federation rank as top three markets for Jan. 01-Jul. 19 period
• Tourist arrivals likely to decrease in coming weeks as govt. reimposed state of emergency

Sri Lanka welcomed 28,733 tourists for the first 19 days of July, bringing the total number of international visitors entering the country for the year starting January 01 to 440,110.

Data from the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) show a reduced but steady flow of tourists into the country, which indicates that despite the ongoing political and economic turmoil in the country, interest in destination Sri Lanka still remains.

The country-wise breakdown of the key contributors to the country’s tourist traffic for July shows that the UK ranks as the largest source market for Sri Lanka tourism. For the first 19 days of July, the UK accounted for 4,714 of the total arrivals.

Ranking as the second largest contributor to tourist traffic is India, which brought in 3,375 tourists; Germany emerged as the third largest source market, accounting for 2,322 international visitors.  

Other notable markets for the month of July include Canada, France, Switzerland and Australia.

The cumulative analysis of the total arrivals for the year ending on July 19 shows that India tops the list as the largest contributor to the tourist traffic of destination Sri Lanka, with 72,136 visitors arriving from that country. The UK ranks second with 54,336 visitors and the Russian Federation ranks third with 47,412 visitors. However, with newly-elected President Ranil Wickremesinghe reimposing a state of emergency in the country, the number of arrivals to the country is likely to further reduce, the reason being, travel and tour companies are unable to promote a destination that is in a state of emergency.