Tourism authorities confident of achieving 2.1mn visitors this year

• August arrivals at 142,587, highest since Easter attacks
• YTD arrivals top 1.26mn, yet a 19.9% decline from a year ago  
• Says slashing of rates, taxes has helped improve arrivals

By Shabiya Ali Ahlam

The Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) yesterday expressed confidence in achieving the 2019 year-end target of 2.1 million tourist arrivals, as the August figures indicate the industry is reaping the benefits of the post-Easter Sunday attack revival measures.

The SLTDA said August saw the arrival of 142,587 tourists, an increase from 115,701 arrivals from a month ago, though a 28.3 percent decline from August 2018.
The ongoing Bohra convention in Colombo is said to be a key contributor to the August arrivals.

Tourist arrivals plunged 75.8 percent in May, following the Easter bombings on April 21. But the decline was gradually narrowed to 57 percent in June and 49 percent 
in July.

SLTDA Chairman Johanne Jayaratne said the trend in arrivals since the Easter incident indicates an improvement in sentiment and the increase in confidence on the security situation in Sri Lanka.

In the first eight months of this year, Sri Lanka has attracted 1,267,737, a decline of 19.9 percent from the same period, last year. 

According to Jayaratne, the 2019 figure is commendable, given the travel advisories issued by Sri Lanka’s key tourism source markets, following the Easter bombings.
“The forecast would be to the effect of equalisation, between 2018 and 2019, by about October or early November,” said Jayaratne.

The month of May recorded 1,219 average daily arrivals, June 2,102, July 3,732 and August 4,632, showing a steady increase in arrivals, he said.
Meanwhile, the top 10 tourism source markets for August were India, the UK, China, Germany, France, Australia, the Maldives, United States, Spain and Canada.
The SLTDA chief opined that the special tourism promotional package offered by the industry and government by slashing rates and taxes has certainly worked, given the steady improvement witnessed in tourist arrivals.

“It has worked for sure. However, we are unable to pinpoint which measure worked – if it was the aviation discount, free-visa or any other discount offered by the government. 
We believe that these measures collectively attributed to the improved arrivals,” Jayaratne said. It was shared that out of the countries the visa-free facility was offered, the highest arrivals have been recorded from India, Japan, Romania, the US, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and Latvia.