image source, Getty Images
It can be observed that the tourism sector which can contribute massively to the economy of Sri Lanka is gradually developing today.
Starting from the first month of this year, lakhs of tourists have started traveling to Sri Lanka.
According to this, 102,545 tourists visited the country in January this year and 107,639 tourists visited in February last year.
Only 210,184 tourists visited the country in these two months.
Last year, more than one lakh tourists visited in the month of March alone.
According to this, 106,500 tourists visited Sri Lanka in March last year.
Data from the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority shows that in the other 11 months, less than one lakh tourists visited.
When did Sri Lanka’s tourism industry start to decline?
Sri Lanka’s tourism industry, which had been booming since the end of the war, began to take a nosedive after the Easter attacks in 2019.
Especially compared to the year 2018, the tourism industry had declined after April 2019.
The Easter attack on April 21, 2019 had taken Sri Lanka’s tourism industry on a massive downward spiral.
In this situation, Sri Lanka’s tourism industry moved towards development in the period after July 2019 and returned to normal by November, according to the Sri Lankan Tourism Development Authority.
While there were 244,328 tourist arrivals in March 2019, it dropped to 37,802 tourists in May following the Easter attacks.
Subsequently, the security of the country was confirmed and Sri Lanka’s tourism industry was brought back to normal in December 2019 amidst massive difficulties.
In this situation, the number of tourists who visited Sri Lanka in 2019 was reported as 1,913,702.
In the first two months of 2020, the first case of Covid-19 was identified in the country in March, with more than 2 lakh tourists reported.
Subsequently, travel restrictions were imposed in Sri Lanka and airports were closed.
image source, in SLT
In this situation, not a single tourist visited Sri Lanka from April 2020 to November of that year, according to Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority.
However, 393 tourists visited in December that year amid the Covid outbreak.
A total of 507,704 tourists visited Sri Lanka in 2020.
However, in 2021, Sri Lanka’s tourism sector experienced a massive setback.
Only 194,495 tourists visited in the whole year 2021.
719,978 tourists visited the country throughout the year 2022.
The year 2022 has been recorded in history as the year Sri Lanka faced massive challenges economically.
Last year, a significant number of tourists visited the country amidst various problems like fuel shortage, power outage, shortage of essential food items and people waiting in queues.
The protests against the Sri Lankan ruler had started on March 31, 2022.
According to this, the maximum number of passengers was finally recorded in March itself.
After 106,500 tourists visited the country in March 2022, in January 2023 alone, tourist trips crossed the one lakh mark.
In 2021, the highest number of tourists visited in December was 89,506.
In 2020, Sri Lanka received 0.7 billion US dollars in income from tourism, 506.9 million US dollars in 2021, and 1.1 billion US dollars in 2022.
image source, in SLT
Sri Lanka is progressing in tourism
Compared to the past, the tourism sector is improving in the first two months of this year, according to the data of the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority.
In the first two months, more than 2 lakh 10 thousand tourists have visited the country.
According to this, most tourists visited the country in January from Russia, followed by India.
When in Sri Lanka’s history did most tourists visit?
According to Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority data, data from 1985 onwards is on record.
According to this, 257,456 tourists visited Sri Lanka in 1985.
Between 1985 and 2011, fewer than one million tourists visited the area.
However, for the first time since 2012, more than one million tourists have visited the country.
According to this, 10 lakh 5 thousand 605 tourists visited the country in 2012.
This amount has gradually increased and in 2016 the amount reached 2 million.
According to this, 20 lakh 50 thousand 832 tourists visited the country in 2016.
From 2016 to 2018, more than 2 million tourists visited the country annually, but due to the Easter attacks in 2019, only 1.9 million tourists visited that year.
In 2020, the tourism industry experienced a setback towards 2009 again.
447,890 tourists visited Sri Lanka in 2009, the year of the final war, and 5 lakh tourists visited in 2020.
From this setback it can be observed that the country has now started moving forward.
image source, harin fernando
Harin Fernando
Chinese tourists to Sri Lanka after 3 years
Since the end of 2019, the arrival of Chinese tourists has been banned following the global outbreak of Covid.
In this situation, for the first time after 3 years, a group of Chinese tourists arrived in the country yesterday.
A SriLankan Air Lines flight arrived in the country with 120 Chinese tourists on board.
Similarly, with the aim of bringing Chinese tourists to the country, it is planned to carry out 9 weekly flights between Sri Lanka and China from April onwards, according to Tourism Minister Harin Fernando.
“I think that Chinese tourists visiting the country after 3 years this year will be the most important reason for Sri Lanka’s tourism development. I hope that more and more tourists will visit Sri Lanka in the near future. It will be a massive power for the country. With 500,000 Chinese tourists visiting the country within a year, if one Chinese tourist brings in $5,000, that would be equivalent to a loan from the International Monetary Fund. Therefore, this will contribute to taking Sri Lanka forward,” says Tourism Minister Harin Fernando.
If the current situation continues like this, the government believes that Sri Lanka can move towards economic stability through tourism.
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