Sri Lanka (Commonwealth Union)_ Sri Lanka’s tourism sector is experiencing growth after facing a series of crises in the past five years, and the government is optimistic about achieving the ambitious target of 2.3 million arrivals scheduled for 2024.
Priantha Fernando, the chairman of the state-run Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA), mentioned that they are aiming to surpass the 2024 target with increased flights and the addition of new airlines. He said, “In fact, we are hoping to exceed the 2024 target with an increase in flights and new airlines coming in”.
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Although the country fell short of the 2023 target of 1.5 million arrivals, recording 1,487,303 in 2023, which marked a significant increase of 106.6% from the previous year, officials remain positive about the sector’s trajectory. December 2022 saw 210,352 arrivals, up from 91,961 in the same month in 2022 but still lower than the peak of 253,169 arrivals in December 2018. The tourism sector has faced challenges over the past few years due to Easter Sunday bombing attacks in 2019, the closure of the airport due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and the extreme economic crisis in 2022.
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The SLTDA chairman noted that the 2023 target could have been surpassed if not for issues in two key markets – Russia and Israel. He added, “We were expecting two weekly flights from Israel in October, which didn’t happen owing to the war, while another 2,000 arrivals from Russia were lost in December due to the dispute over a registration problem by budget carrier I-Fly, a Russian charter operator.”
In 2023, India, Russia, the UK, Germany, China, Australia, France, Canada, the USA, and the Maldives were the top source markets for Sri Lankan tourism. Additionally, foreign exchange earnings from tourism in 2023 were expected to surpass US$2 billion, a significant increase from US$1.13 billion in the previous year. However, limited seat capacities in key markets contributed to missing the 2023 target. Further, the number of airlines flying into Sri Lanka has decreased from 52 in 2018 to 38 at present; however, the expectation is that more airlines will resume flights this year.
Additionally, Fernando highlighted that a new program launched in China aims to bring one million arrivals from China to Sri Lanka by 2025. He also expressed optimism that if arrivals from China reach 400,000-500,000 this year, it would set the stage for another successful year. Further, arrivals from China slowed down during the post-lockdown period and reached 68,789 in 2023. The year 2018 marked the peak for Chinese tourists, with 265,965 arrivals. Moreover, the national carrier, SriLankan Airlines, which accounts for 38% of passenger capacity, is expected to increase to 45-50% in the coming months with the addition of more flights.
