Sri Lanka Tourism welcomes 187,810 tourists in July 2024
A total of 187,810 (6,058 daily average) visitors to the island in July 2024 – reflected a 31% year-on-year (YoY) growth. However, it is still 14% lower than the 217,829 tourists who visited the country in July of 2018 – a bench mark year when Sri Lanka welcomed 2.3 million international visitors that year.
Moreover, last month’s total arrivals was also 14.9% (32,789 less visitors) short of the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Board (SLTDB) authorities projected target of 220,599 (7,116 daily average) visitors for July. The shortfall in July marked the 7th consecutive month, where the SLTDB’s projected targets were unmet. The monthly shortfall from January to July was 13.9%, 8.4%, 11.4%, 18.5%, 14.4%, 23% and 14.9%, respectively.
In July 2024, India led as the primary source market, bringing in 41,173 visitors, followed by the UK with 20,837 and China, which has notably risen to 3rd place, with 13,040 arrivals. Other significant sources of arrivals during the month came from the Netherlands, Germany, France, Australia, Switzerland, the US and Canada.
Year-to-date (YTD), India continued to stand strong as the top source market with accumulative figures showing 225,641 arrivals, followed by Russia with 118,682 and the UK with 110,189.
Looking back, 1,198,059 arrivals in total have visited the island during the first seven months (Jan – July) of 2024.
Looking ahead, Sri Lanka Tourism aims to attract 2.3 million tourists by the end of 2024, aiming to generate over $ 4 billion in revenue.
On August 2, 2024, the Supreme Court issued an interim order suspending the Sri Lanka eVisa portal run by IVS-GBS and VFS Global with immediate effect. The eVisa portal https://www.srilankgevisa.lk was suspended on Friday at 17:00 Sri Lanka time.
Currently, there is no platform for issuing eVisas online for tourists coming to Sri Lanka. All tourists without a visa will need to apply for a visa on arrival until the former ETA system is reestablished.
There is no specific date for the ETA system’s return, but it is expected to be operational within the week.
Whilst Sri Lanka’s tourism industry commended the decision to suspend the e-Visa portal run by VFS Global, and urged the reinstatement of the old online system at the earliest to minimise inconvenience for tourists, industry experts have suggested that the swift implementation of a visa-free policy could potentially boost tourist arrivals beyond current projections, possibly reaching up to 2.5 million visitors.
The global mobility gap is growing exponentially. The general trend over the past two decades has been towards greater travel freedom, with the global average number of destinations travelers are able to access visa-free nearly doubling from 58 in 2006 to 111 in 2024. Recently, Thailand provided visa – free entry to tourists from 93 countries, including Sri Lanka.
In aviation news, India’s IndiGo has announced Jaffna, Sri Lanka as the newest addition in its international route network. The airline will start non-stop daily flights between Chennai and Jaffna, starting 1st September 2024. Jaffna will be the second destination in Sri Lanka after Colombo for IndiGo, making it the 34th international and 122nd overall destination in its extensive 6E network.
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