Tourist arrivals reach 17k in first half

• France emerges as largest source market due to two French Navy vessels that arrived in island 

Sri Lanka attracted a total of 1,614 tourists in June, bringing the total number of arrivals for the first half to 16,908.
Although the arrivals in June were higher by just 135 visitors when compared with May, it follows the sharp contraction witnessed after the month of April, which is due to the closure of boarders and travel restrictions from specific countries such as India and regions such as South Africa and South America. 

The increase in the number of tourists in June is due to the two French Navy vessels that arrived in the island, with 422 crewmembers under the bio-bubble concept. 

However, according to the statistics released by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA), 616 persons arrived in the island nation via sea.

France emerged as the largest source market for Sri Lanka tourism in June, due to the visitation of the French fleet accounting to 40.5 percent of the tourism traffic, whereas China and Germany ranked second and third, accounting to 10.9 percent and 8.5 percent of the total arrivals for the month.

Region wise, Europe became the largest source of tourist traffic to Sri Lanka, with 69.7 percent of the total traffic. Asia and Pacific accounted for 17 percent of the total traffic, the Americas 11.6 percent, Middle East 1.3 percent and Africa 0.3 percent. 

On a cumulative basis, while the total arrivals inched toward 17,000, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Germany, China and India were Sri Lanka’s top five international tourist-generating markets from January to June this year.

Kazakhstan was the largest source of tourist traffic to Sri Lanka, with 19 percent of the total traffic received for the first six months ending in June. Ukraine accounted for 16 percent of the total traffic, whereas Germany, China and India accounted for 9 percent, 7 percent and 6 percent. 

 The SLTDA said it is noteworthy that total arrivals up to June from Kazakhstan had recorded a growth in comparison to total arrivals up to June 2020, owing to the pilot project carried out to revive the industry, following a 10-month pandemic-induced closure.