Sri Lanka’s Tourism Revenue Grows 18.9% in September
Colombo, October 5, 2024 — Sri Lanka’s foreign exchange revenue from tourism rose to $181 million in September, marking an 18.9% increase compared to $152.2 million in the same month last year, according to the central bank and tourism promotion authorities.
In the first nine months of 2024, tourism revenue soared 61.2% to $2.35 billion, up from $1.46 billion during the same period last year. The number of foreign visitors also rose, with 122,140 arrivals in September 2024, a 9.1% increase year-on-year. Overall, tourist arrivals for the first nine months reached 1.48 million, a significant jump of 46.1% compared to last year.
Sri Lanka is targeting 2.3 million tourist arrivals and expects to generate $5 billion in revenue for the entire year. The peak tourism season is set to begin in November and extend until early March.
Tourism contributed nearly 5% to Sri Lanka’s economy during its peak in 2018 but faced setbacks due to the Easter Sunday attacks in 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, and a severe economic crisis.
The current government, led by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, has reinstated a previous visa process in response to a Supreme Court ruling, which is anticipated to boost tourist arrivals and revenue. The tourism sector had suffered a slowdown after the introduction of a new on-arrival visa system through VFS Global, which imposed a $21.61 fee on visitors who previously obtained visas free of charge.
Amid protests from the leisure industry over the complex website and increased fees, the Supreme Court temporarily halted the new visa system. The government has since proposed a ‘one chop system’ similar to Singapore for visa-free entry for 38 countries, pending parliamentary approval after the general elections scheduled for November 14.
The tourism earnings figure is derived from a survey conducted by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority, which reflects the sector’s gradual recovery, leading to an increase in imports and a reduction in the merchandise trade deficit as earnings rise and are spent within the local economy.
Source :- ECONOMYNEXT
