Tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka plunge in May

• A total of 30,207 tourists entered country in May
• Down 52% compared with April and 72% compared with March
• India top of list as largest source market, followed by UK and Russia

Sri Lanka saw tourist arrivals take a steep plunge in the month of May, with little over 30,000 visitors entering the country.

The ongoing economic and political turmoil that led to several episodes of social unrest and violence in the beginning of the month, has resulted in tourists overlooking the island nation and are instead opting to visit competing destinations to spend their holidays.

Due to the unfavourable conditions in the country, which include fuel, electricity and food shortages, a total of 30,207 tourists visited Sri Lanka in May. This brings the total arrivals for the year to 378,521.

When compared with the month of April, which marked the start of a declining trend for tourism, the arrival number is about 52 percent less. Whereas when compared with the month of March, the drop is of about 72 percent. 
March recorded the highest number of arrivals since Sri Lanka was impacted by the pandemic. Tourist arrivals for that month surpassed 100,000.

The Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) said that in addition to the unfavourable conditions in the country, the contraction in tourist arrivals can also be due to the gradual cessation of the peak travel season. 
Europe became the largest source of tourist traffic to Sri Lanka, accounting for 48.8 percent of the total traffic received in May 2022. 

“Pent-up demand especially from countries such as the United Kingdom, Germany and Russia is likely to have driven this growth momentum,” the SLTDA said. 

Asia and the Pacific accounted for 33.3 percent of total arrivals, whereas the Americas and Middle East contributed to 11.7 percent and 5.1 percent to the tourist traffic.

The SLTDA noted that the gradual improvement in international travel was once again threatened by external factors such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, coupled with the related challenging economic environment and internal factors such as the economic crisis in Sri Lanka, undermining consumer confidence, which was gradually building up.

India continued to lead as the country contributing to the highest number of arrivals by accounting for 18 percent of the total tourist traffic for May. Ranking second is the UK, contributing to 12 percent of the arrivals and coming third is Russia, contributing to 11 percent of the total tourist traffic.

While pointing out that the on-arrival visa facility introduced for the Indian tourists could have partly contributed to the increased arrivals from India, the SLTDA said the advisories against travel to Sri Lanka by major source markets such as the United Kingdom, Germany and France, due to political and economic unrest in Sri Lanka, could be the likely reasons for this decline. 

It added that the rising inflation in the European region, due to the war in Ukraine, too could have detrimental effects on tourism in Sri Lanka.