Barmy ...November 2018 arrivals up by 16.8% in ' So Sri Lanka '
The presence of the ‘Balmy army’ during the tour of Sri Lanka by England’s national cricket team and 39,000 visitors from India (thanks to the Sri Lankan Rupee falling faster than the Indian Rupee), pushed November’s total arrivals to 195,582. It is the highest percentage growth rate since June.
Interestingly, the Indian Rupee and the Sri Lankan Rupee both stood at 4.76 to the US Dollar at the time the two countries received independence from Britain. Since then, India has taken its Rupee to approximately 70 to the dollar, whilst Sri Lanka has shot down its Rupee to Rs 180 to the Dollar.
The slumping Sri Lankan Rupee isn’t all bad news – for it does make Sri Lanka a far cheaper destination for overseas tourists. The UK, for instance, is proving a big visitor attraction after the UK pounds Brexit slide. The surge in arrivals throughout 2018 has boosted Britain’s tourism and services industries, just as uncertainty created by the EU referendum has damaged the confidence of UK consumers and businesses. So, despite the current ‘barmy’ situation in Sri Lanka…all may not be lost!
Whilst Indian visitors led the pack, The UK with 22,000 arrivals emerged as the second biggest source market delegating China to number three. In fact, arrivals from China declined by 2% to 19, 237 visitors during November 2018. In the first eleven months of this year, arrivals totalled 2.08 Million tourists – up 11.2% year-on-year, same period.
Some Industry leaders remain buoyant that despite the political instability and travel advisories, and after the initial slowdown in arrival numbers just after the political crisis, they observe future bookings to be on an upward trend and are confident that Sri Lanka will receive the highest tourist arrivals this year. That Sri Lanka will achieve the highest recorded number of tourists in 2018 is simple maths. Last year, the country welcomed 2,116,407 visitors. Upto November of this year, it has received 2,081,000 arrivals. So, should December see 35,500 + more visitors, it would surpass 2017’s total – and that’s a given…even in the barmiest of situations.
Other Industry stakeholders claim that so far, only the MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) market has been affected by the ongoing constitutional crisis, with some cancellations and postponements. However, they say that forward bookings growth overall has been slower up to April.
Others in the industry say that the prevailing uncertainty has prompted cancellations both in hotel and flight bookings, with the Galle Face Hotel stating that due to a 20% cancellation of bookings they are offering discounts in a bid to influence utilization of room allocations
Report Compiled by in2ition
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