Sri Lanka welcomes over 4,000 tourists in April; India leads

• Kazakhstan maintains position as leading source market for first 4 months of 2021
• Cumulative arrivals for first 4 months reach 13,797
• Authorities have set an ambitious target of attracting 800,000 tourists for 2021

Sri Lanka managed to maintain the momentum in the number of tourist arrivals with 4,168 international travellers visiting the country in April.

The country having attracted over 4,000 for the second consecutive month has brought the total number of arrivals for the first four months, ending April 30, to 13,797 visitors.

However, a marginal dip is witnessed on a month-on-month (MoM) basis when compared with the 4,581 arrivals in March. In the corresponding month in 2020, Sri Lanka had zero tourist arrivals due to the closure of airports.

Cumulative analysis shows that the arrivals thus far for 2021 contracted by 97.3 percent since Sri Lanka attracted a total of 507,311 tourists within the first three months, also the total for the whole of that year.

The tourism traffic for the month of April was led by India, followed by China, Kazakhstan, Germany and the UK. India emerged as the top source market with 796 (19 percent) arrivals in April, taking over the top position from Kazakhstan.

China accounted for 11.4 percent of the total traffic while Kazakhstan, Germany and the UK accounted for 10.6 percent, 9.2 percent and 8 percent, respectively.

Although arrivals from India were picking up, Kazakhstan remains the largest tourism source market for the year thus far.

Sri Lanka Tourism said it is noteworthy that total arrivals up to April from Kazakhstan had recorded a growth in comparison to total arrivals up to April 2020. 

Region wise, Europe became the largest source of tourist traffic to Sri Lanka, accounting for 50.9 percent of the total traffic received in April 2021. Asia and Pacific accounted for 35.7 percent of the total traffic while the Americas accounted for 10 percent.

From a regional perspective, the gradual prominence of Indian market is noteworthy while the presence of countries from the Americas, Western, Central and Eastern Europe and Asia Pacific regions among the top source markets reflect the gradual revitalisation of the tourism industry in Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka Tourism said.

India emerging as a key contributor to Sri Lanka’s tourism sector can be attributed to the travel bubble established between the two countries.

National carrier SriLankan Airlines was to kick off a renewed route plan with higher frequency with India mid-April but the effort was put off due to the sudden surge in the number of COVID-19 cases and casualties in that country.

Sri Lanka has set an ambitious target of attracting 800,000 tourists for 2021 and only 1.72 percent of the goal has been fulfilled in the first four months.