Tourist arrivals record significant pick up in Nov; but still down 9.5% YoY

Sri Lanka has been able to significantly minimize the hit on tourist arrivals in the month of November following Easter Sunday attacks in April, which dealt a crippling blow to the country’s booming tourism industry.

According to the data released by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA), November tourist arrivals fell by 9.5 percent year-on –year (YoY) compared to 70.8 percent YoY decline in arrivals recorded in May.

The number of tourists arrived in the country in November stood at 176, 984.

The cumulative arrivals in the eleven months fell 19.6 percent to 1.67 million.
Sri Lanka welcomed a record 2.3 million tourists last year and tourism earnings also grew to US$ 4.4 billion.

Sri Lanka is likely to end this year with around 1.9 million tourists. Tourism earnings for the first nine months were recorded at US$ 2.58 billion.