91,961 arrivals in December pushes Sri Lanka's 2022 visitor total to 719,978
91,961 tourist arriving in the month of December 2022 enabled Sri Lanka to close last year (Jan - Dec), with a total 719,978 international travelers as having visited the country.
December’s total arrivals number was the third highest month for 2022 - coming after March’s 106,500 visitors and February’s 96,507 arrivals.
Leading the ‘Top 5 LTTG’ list (Largest Tourist Traffic Generators) for December 2022 was the Russian Federation with 19,963 (21.7%) arrivals, followed by India’s 17,350 (18.9%) taking second spot and the United Kingdom slotting in at third place with 7,879 (8.6%) visitors to Sri Lanka. Fourth and fifth places were taken by Australia and Germany with 5,158 (5.6%) and 4,984 (5.4%) visitors, respectively.
The largest tourist traffic generator for destination Sri Lanka in 2022 was neighbouring India, who with a total 123,004 arrivals contributed 17% of the year’s total. Ranking second was the Russian Federation, accounting for 13% (91,272 arrivals) and the United Kingdom with a total 85,187 visitors (12%), becoming the third largest source market.
Russian traffic was given a further boost with ‘Red Wings’ a national carrier of Russia beginning charter operations (twice-weekly), to Sri Lanka with effect from 28th December 2022. This is already the third Russian Airline serving direct flights to Sri Lanka. The inaugural flight carried 412 passengers to Sri Lanka.
Several Cruises from Europe and USA also boosted the arrival figure with over 5,000 tourists using Colombo, Trincomalee and Hambantota Ports to take excursions to Sri Lanka.
The revenue from Sri Lanka’s leisure industry exceeded USD 1.4 billion last year – an above five-fold increase over that earned in 2021.
December 2022’s 91,961 arrivals total is remarkably just above what the same month in 2021 achieved – 89,506 tourists. The Top 3 largest traffic generators were no different, occupying the identical slots – India, Russia and UK in that order.
The island’s tourism industry expects China to regain its position as one of the key source markets for Sri Lanka tourism. Starting from January 8, China’s National Health Commission announced that the inbound travelers would no longer have to go into quarantine and there would be no official restriction on Chinese people going abroad. However, with the COVID-19 infections and casualties on the rise in China, several countries across the world have been quick to impose fresh health protocols that are mandatory for Chinese travelers.
Hospitality Sri Lanka
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