SL on track to score a haul with tourist arrivals likely to cross 100k mark in April

• Based on current daily arrival average, April to end with 104,800 tourist arrivals
• Tourism industry witnessing changes in composition of source markets as India moves up list
• Contribution from India to SL tourism to further expand with fresh promotional initiatives underway  

Sri Lanka tourism is on track to score a haul, with projections indicating that tourist arrivals for the month of April are on track to cross the 100,000 mark for the fourth consecutive month. 
The provisional data from the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority show that for the 23 days of April, the country welcomed a total of 80,350 international visitors, which brings the daily arrival average to 3,493. 

Based on the current daily arrival momentum, the island nation is likely to welcome about 24,451 tourists for the April 24-30 period and will end the month with about 104,800 international visitors.  

The destination also saw the cumulative arrivals cross the 400,000 mark on April 20, with the numbers for January 01 to that date totalling 401,604. The island nation has also made significant progress in changing the composition of the source markets for tourism.   As intended, neighbouring giant India now tops the list as the largest tourist traffic generator for destination Sri Lanka, a position that was held by the Russian Federation for several months. The tourist arrivals from India expected to further expand in the coming months, as efforts are underway to carry out focused promotions.

The first initiative is the rolling out of the ‘Three Cities Roadshow’ in India, which kicked off yesterday. The event is held from April 24 to 28, in Chennai, Cochin and Bangalore. The second is the hosting of the convention of the Travel Agents Association of India, which is expected to take place in the second quarter of this year. 

 For the year to date, India accounted for 14 percent of the total tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka. The Russian Federation stood as the largest contributor to Sri Lanka tourism, bringing in 22 percent of the total arrivals for the January 01 to April 23 period. 

The other notable markets included the UK, Germany, France, Australia, Canada, the United States, China and Israel.