Tourist arrivals in June increased by 7% to 1,614 from May, despite the travel restrictions in place as a result of the ongoing third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The increase was largely influenced by the tour of French naval personnel and officers, under strict bio-secure travel bubble conditions.
Arrivals in the first six months amounted to 16,808, a welcome development since the reopening of borders on 21 January but down by 97% from last year’s first half.
In June, the largest source markets were France (654), China (176) and Germany (131), the data released by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) showed.
However, during the first half of the year, Kazakhstan was the largest source of tourist traffic to Sri Lanka, with 19% of the total traffic received, whilst Ukraine accounted for 16%, and Germany, China and India accounted for 9%, 7% and 6% respectively.
Europe became the largest source region with 11,916 travellers of the total traffic received in the first half of the year, whilst Asia and Pacific and the Americas accounted for 3,254 and 1,334 tourists respectively.
The COVID-19 pandemic raged from March 2020 onwards and the latest drop in arrivals reinforce the continuous struggles of the tourism industry.
The gradual prominence of the Kazakhstan market is noteworthy as arrivals from Kazakhstan in the first half of the year recorded a 37% growth in comparison to total arrivals in the same period a year earlier. Kazakhstan also led arrivals in the first half with 3,188, as a result of a pilot project carried out to revive the industry following a 10-month pandemic-induced closure and commencement of regular flights by its national carrier.
Sri Lanka has banned several regions, including Africa and South America, following bans on passengers with a 14-day travel history (including transit) from India and Vietnam.
(FT)