July 2019 arrivals reflect a bounceback from the April freefall
After the 21st April incidents, total ‘arrivals’ numbers (37,802), in May 2019 plummeted 71 percent over that of May 2018.
In June, the number of visitors (63,072) to Sri Lanka registered a 57 percent drop over the same month last year.
115,701 tourist arrivals last month were 47 percent below that recorded in July 2018.
Despite the ‘negative’ month-on-month growth between 2019 and 2018, since April this year, there is a positive development. The ‘freefall’ in tourism numbers since that fateful day, has been halted and a sign of a ‘bounceback’ is clearly evident… where arrivals in July were a 83 percent growth from a month earlier.In June, it was a 67 percent growth over May. Some analysts say that the tourism industry is recovering faster than expected whilst others view developments with cautious optimism.
In July, the largest source market for tourists was India (16% of total traffic), followed by the United Kingdom (11%), Germany (7%), France (6%) and China (6%), respectively. Ten countries generated 66% of July’s total arrivals.
As at 31st July 2019, 1,124,150 of tourists have visited Sri Lanka for this year. It is a decline of 18.7% over last year when 1,382,476 of tourists visited the country during the same period.
The goal for 2019 has been re-set with the aim of attracting 2 million visitors. This requires another 875,850 visitors between August and December.
Towards reaching the goal of 2 million by end 2019, a number of concessions have been introduced by the government, including free visas on arrival for nationals of 48 countries, reduction in taxes on hotel room rates, lowering of the airport ground handling and fuel charges for airlines and the granting of finanicial assistance to stakeholders affected by the crisis.
Report compiled by in2ition |
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