Sri Lanka is yet to launch a global tourism promotion campaign, despite having announced a target of three million arrivals at the very beginning of the year, Outgoing President of the Sri Lanka Association of In-bound Tour Operators (SLAITO) Nishard Wijetunge said.
“When you set the target at three million, you need 50% more of what had been achieved last year. This requires exponential growth,” Wijetunge said, speaking to The Daily Morning Business yesterday (28).
Though Sri Lanka missed its target of 2.3 million in 2024, it posted its third highest number of arrivals, and recorded a 38.07% year-on-year growth with 2.05 million arrivals.
“Right now, this is a priority while we are in the winter season to at least target those travelling and potentially incoming between June and August.”
Wijetunge explained that digital campaigns that go directly to consumers encourages more in-bound travel and longer stays, as tour operators are not necessitated to convince tourists on why they should spend more time within Sri Lanka, and travel throughout.
“There already is a level of organic growth in attention for Sri Lanka incurred by websites and blogs naming Sri Lanka on their destination lists, however, it is crucial that a campaign fortifies the presence of Sri Lanka among destination travel options for the year.”
Furthermore, he added that the existing vehicle fleet that tour operators use is incapable of handling a potential influx of tourists, as the association has noted that tour operators have not been approved for vehicle importations in the last few years, due to the government ban.
“The association had requested for new additions last year. At least a 1,000 vans and buses were set to be imported for the fleet last year, but only 300 were approved for importation, of which a majority was meant for hotels, not operators.”
“As tour operators we proposed a plan for the imports, and expect the government to work accordingly with us by the end of the budget,” he concluded.
The highest number of tourist arrivals in Sri Lanka was recorded in 2018, with 2.3 million international visitors, followed by 2.1 million in 2017. The 2024 performance is the highest since 2019, indicating a promising recovery for a sector that faced multiple challenges over the past five years.
In December 2024, Sri Lanka saw 248,592 arrivals, an 18.18% increase compared to the same period in the previous year, marking the highest monthly performance of the year.
India continues to be the largest source market, contributing 32,097 tourists or 27.4% of October’s arrivals, followed by the UK with 9,113 visitors (7.8%) and China with 7,609 tourists (6.5%).
Sri Lanka’s tourism generated $ 2.34 billion in revenue during the first nine months of 2024, a 61.2% increase over the same period last year.
The Morning
