Tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka hit the 125,000 mark in March 2023
Tourist arrivals reached 125,000 arrivals during March’23, the highest achievement within a single month, year - to - date (YTD). This is an increase of 16.4 % as of 2022 March.
The accumulated first Quarter total YTD, (Jan – March) in 2023, recorded over 335,000 arrivals. Sri Lanka targets to achieve around 1.55 million arrivals for 2023 and in the first quarter of the year 22% of that target has been achieved.
The boost in arrivals was largely influenced by Russian tourists, maintaining the lead ahead of arrivals from India. Russian arrivals reached 25,000 again making it the No. 1 source market for Sri Lanka while India, with over 18,000 occupied the No. 2 slot. UK and Germany were among the next two highest source markets for Sri Lanka for March 2023.
The average duration of stay in the country was 9.11 nights. An official from Sri Lanka Tourism pointed out that over 50,000 rooms were available in the formal sector and about 45% occupancy is officially recorded. In addition to 30,000 rooms available in the informal sector - such as small-scale guest houses and home stay and they too had good occupancy.
“Sri Lanka’s tourism industry has made a strong comeback in 2023 after a series of major setbacks from 2019. The respect and tribute of it should go to all stakeholders of the industry for all their dynamic and steadfast commitment to overcoming the challenges. I salute their dedication and efforts,” Sri Lanka’s Tourism Minister Harin Fernando told local newspapers. He went on to add, “We are excited about 2023, as plans are underway to make Sri Lanka a year-round destination.”
Some hoteliers say there is a drop in high-end travelers for their properties, despite the growth in numbers, with one claiming that “Our arrivals from inbound travelers (high end travelers) has been less compared to last year.”
Originally for 2023, Sri Lanka Tourism set a target of 1.55 million arrivals and an ambitious income of $ 5 billion by attracting high-end travelers who each spend over $400 per day from the current $200. This has since, been adjusted to $ 2.88 billion.
Hospitality Sri Lanka
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