Sri Lanka welcomes half a million tourists in first six months

Sri Lanka crossed 512,281 tourist arrivals in the first half of 2013 (1H13) edging closer to the targeted 1.25 million arrivals by the end of this year.

Western Europe remained the highest source of arrivals by region at 196,355 during the first half, reflecting a growth of 13.8 percent year-on-year (YoY).

Arrivals from the United Kingdom increased by 15.2 percent YoY to 55,286 while German arrivals grew 14.4 percent YoY to 36,700. France accounted for a further 30,049 arrivals, amounting to an 8.5 percent YoY increase.

While remaining the single highest source of arrivals by country, Indian arrivals declined by a marginal 1.7 percent YoY to record 83,981 arrivals during the half.