July 2023 records highest tourist arrivals since Covid outbreak-by Varuna Dayaratne

July 2023 recorded the highest ever tourist arrivals in Sri Lanka within a single month since the onset of the Covid pandemic, surpassing the total number of tourist arrivals for the entire year of 2022, within just seven months.

This is a tremendous boost for the Sri Lankan Tourism industry and a welcome change as the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority together with the Tourism Ministry has been working hard using every possible avenue to increase tourist arrivals from around the world, post Covid.

The first 27 days of July 2023 recorded an outstanding 123,503 foreign visitors arriving in Sri Lanka which has propelled the cumulative number of tourist arrivals in the island to an incredible 748,377 thus far.

Tourism Minister Harin Fernando recognises this as a positive and a welcome change in the tourism industry, seeing this astounding surge in tourist arrivals in Sri Lanka this year (2023), especially the highest influx of arrivals in July 2023, as a confirmation that Sri Lanka stands as a top travel destination in the world, stressing the high potential the island has to further enhance its Tourism industry.

The Minister said that besides the highest recorded tourist arrivals, the gross revenue earned has exceeded US$ 1 billion thus far, which is a tremendous boost in tourism revenue and earnings within such a short period of time this year, after several setbacks the country faced in the past few years, which affected the Tourism industry adversely plunging it to an all-time low.

The Easter Sunday attacks and the Covid pandemic outbreak together with subsequent turmoil experienced in the country saw the tourist arrivals from across the world dwindling down to an unprecedented low level which in turn brought down the Tourism industry earnings in Sri Lanka.

The daily averages of tourist arrivals compared between June and July this year shows a steady increase, where the daily average in July surged to 4,574 from the 3,346 recorded in June.

It is estimated to achieve a record estimated figure of 137,594 tourist arrivals by the end of July 2023.

Sri Lanka is on its way to bouncing back as a key player in the Tourism industry to becoming a high-end tourist destination competing with other major players like India, the United Kingdom, China, Germany and Russia that are currently holding the leading edge in the tourism market.

The Tourism Minister said that Japan, Australia and the Republic of Korea are seen as emerging tourism markets and the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) is focusing on conducting major awareness and marketing campaigns very soon.

The quick and steady recovery of the Sri Lankan Tourism industry is a result of the collective efforts of the Government of Sri Lanka and the private sector and SMEs and the upward trend in tourist arrivals and earnings resembles a promising future for this all-important foreign-exchange generating industry and its major role played in the economic growth of the country, the Minister said.