Around 25,000 foreign tourists had visited Sri Lanka between 01 and 06 March, the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority said in its Weekly Report on Friday.24,363 tourists have arrived in that period, the report said.
Appearing on TV to comment on the development, Jeevana Fernando, the Assistant Director of the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority said the number had increased to over 30,000 between 01 and 08 March.
Cumulative arrivals for the year are 234,547, which is an increase of 9.6 percent, compared to last year, he said.The Russian Federation, India and Germany are Sri Lanka’s top three source markets for tourists so far, in March, according to Tourism Development Authority data.
The Authority said China is the eighth biggest source market for March so far, and that this is a very heartening development.SLTDA Chairman Priantha Fernando said that the tourism sector would receive a boost from arrivals expected from China, starting from 01 March.
SriLankan Airlines would operate nine flights a week, starting from April, to destinations in China, and it would facilitate travel between the two countries, Fernando said.
Tourism, one of Sri Lanka’s leading foreign exchange earners, has suffered a setback due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic and political crises in the country.Sri Lanka aims to attract around 1.5 million tourists in 2023 and 3 million in 2024.