184,158 arrivals to Sri Lanka in November pushes total closer to 2 million in 2024

Sri Lanka welcomed 184,158 international visitors in November 2024. On a year-on-year basis in November, tourist arrivals were up 21.5%.However, it was 7% shy of achieving the 198,069 arrivals it had set out for the month.

Six countries (The US, Australia, Israel, Russia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United Kingdom), briefly issuing travel advisories that warned of potential terrorist threats targeting the popular surfing destination Arugam Bay may have caused a slight hiccup to the arrivals momentum. Happily the threat did not come to pass.

A greater impact that could have affected the arrival flow could be attributed to the recent VFS visa issues imposed in August by the previous government and the drop in Chinese arrivals.

The Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka when asked by a group of journalist said that the manner in which the previous government cold shouldered a Chinese Scientific vessel that wanted to do research in Sri Lankan waters had a negative impact towards Chinese arrivals – as according to him, this incident was portrayed highly in Chinese society as well as in the mainstream media, creating suspicion among Chinese travelers towards Sri Lanka.

India continued to dominate as the top source market, contributing 41,120 arrivals. Russia followed with 29,053 visitors, while the United Kingdom ranked third with 12,912 arrivals. Germany, Australia, China, France, Poland, the United States, and the Netherlands also featured among the top 10 source markets for the month.

Cumulative arrivals for 2024 until end of November stand at 1,804,873 with India accounting for 364,093 arrivals, followed by Russia (166,652) the UK (159,582), Germany (121,381) and China (113,270) – being the 5 countries to surpass the 100,000 count.

Sri Lanka will likely pass the 2 million targeted arrival mark for 2024, but will fall short of the original target of 2.3 million for this year – an arrival figure mark recorded in 2018 which stands until now as the best year for the island’s tourism industry.

Meanwhile, tourist earnings were estimated at US$ 2,534 million during the period January to end October 2024 compared to US$ 1,593 million earned in the same period, last year.

Hospitality Sri Lanka

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