Need another 2.5 million visitors as January/February 2019 account for 0.5 million
With Sri Lanka been widely acclaimed as a ‘must visit in 2019’ destination, a new slogan ‘So Sri Lanka’ launched, the roll out of the Marketing plans underway and visa-free travel for tourists from selected Asian and Western countries between April - October, it is unsurprising that both the Minister for Tourism and the newly elected Chairman of SLTDB/SLTPB remain confident of achieving 3 Million arrivals in 2019, as voiced at ITB 2019.
After all, with everything seemingly coming together, welcoming three million visitors may yet be the realisation of an elusive goal. The hard facts however, speak otherwise…at least from what one can observe from the past two months’ performance.
2019: Forecasted total ‘Arrivals” - 3.0 Million / 28.5% increase over 2018 total ‘arrivals’.
2018: Actual total ‘Arrivals’ - 2.3 Million / 10.3% increase over 2017 total ‘arrivals’.
As of end February the ‘year-on-year’ growth trajectory during the first two months is a dismal 4.6% compared to last year’s 13.8% for the same period..
To get to 3 Million visitors by the end of 2019, the country will need to attract another 2.5 Million visitors during the balance ten months. And that would require seismic activity in ‘arrivals’ between March and December. Infact, a whopping 35% increase in ‘arrivals’ over the same period last year.
Sri Lanka recorded its highest growth, 46.1%, in 2010, following the end of the near 30-year-old conflict. Thereafter, the growth trajectory saw a downward trend in 2011 and in 2012, posting a 30.8% and 17.5% growth respectively. However, after the 26.7% growth spike in 2013, it has returned to a descending growth trend for five years.
Admittedly, the stream of tourists has increased over the past decade and is now considerable all year round. However, it is time to avoid overstating projections of ‘arrivals’ merely for ‘feel good’ reasons and to restore credibility. Too often has expressions of, we ‘expect’ drifted far apart from ‘received’.
There’s no such thing as an accidental tourist. It takes deliberate planning and determined effort to visit here, compelled by curiosity and the promise of what's unique and different in our people, culture, lifestyle, and dramatic scenery and that’s not going to be easy in a harshly competitive environment
In 1950, the top 15 destinations in the world absorbed 98% of all international tourist arrivals. In 1970 the proportion was 75%, falling to 57% in 2007 and reducing even further by 2017, thus reflecting the emergence of new destinations, many of them in developing countries. Of the total 1,326 Million International tourist arrivals in 2017, the Asia / Pacific region snared 24% (323 Million arrivals).
Report compiled by in2ition |
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