Tourist arrivals top 120,000 in first 20 days of Nov.

• On track to meet conservative forecast

By Nishel Fernando

Sri Lanka’s tourist arrivals grew 17 percent year-on-year (YoY) in the first 20 days of November, surpassing the 120,000 mark and remaining on track to meet the conservative forecast for the month, according to the data from the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA).

The country recorded 120,961 tourist arrivals during this period, with the daily average climbing to 6,048 arrivals, up from 5,050 a year ago and 4,384 in October.

The tourist arrivals increased by 24.95 percent YoY to 135,907 in October, recovering from September’s slowdown when growth dropped to single digits for the first time this year, partly due to the travel advisories. However, the United States, Israel and several other countries recently withdrew the travel warnings about the potential terrorist threats targeting the popular surfing destination of Arugam Bay.

If the current trend continues, Sri Lanka could welcome approximately 187,489 tourists in November, exceeding the conservative projection of 182,693. In an optimistic scenario, the SLTDA projects 198,069 tourist arrivals for the month.

India remained as the top source market in November, with 26,717 arrivals. Russia ranked second, with 20,157, followed by Germany, with 9,444. The United Kingdom dropped to the fourth spot, with 7,715 arrivals. Australia, China, France, Poland, the United States and the Netherlands were also among the top 10 source markets.

The cumulative arrivals for the year have surpassed 1.74 million, with India leading at 349,690 arrivals, followed by the UK (157,756) and Russia (154,385).

Analysts expect the tourist arrivals to reach 2-2.1 million by the year-end, falling short of the original target of 2.3 million.