OVERSEAS visitors to Sri Lanka during the first 10 months of 2011 surged to 667,569, overtaking the 654,476 recorded for the whole of last year.
India, Sri Lanka’s largest source market, topped the list with 138,445 visitors, a 44.8 per cent jump over the corresponding period last year.
The UK was the second largest market with 86,430 visitors, a 1.0 per cent increase. Germany contributed 43,369 arrivals, a gain of 19.2 per cent; while there were 40,345 arrivals from France, a 62.3 per cent hike.
Sri Lanka is targeting 750,000-800,000 foreign visitors for the whole of 2011, and industry experts are expecting it to fulfill its aims despite some hiccups over new visa regulations a short while back.
Some travel trade members, however, cautioned against complacency.
Anura Lokuhetty, a local hotel owner and president of the Tourist Hotels Association of Sri Lanka, said: “Yes, we have a record number. However, we need to resort to aggressive marketing as the UK, our biggest market in Western Europe, has dropped and we need to get a larger slice from there.”
