ARRIVALS in Sri Lanka rose 30 per cent last year to 855,975 and officials are expecting 925,000 visitors this year.
Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau managing director Rumy Jauffer said earnings rose 47 per cent to US$850 million from 2010. Sri Lanka, recovering from a bloody conflict that ended in 2009, is aiming to reach 2.5 million tourists by 2016 from an average 450,000 during 30 years of war.
India continued to dominate the inbound market with 171,374 arrivals, up 35 per cent from 2010, followed by the UK with 106,082, a marginal growth of 0.6 per cent, and Germany with 55,882 arrivals, up 22 per cent.
Stability is also providing a boost to conferences and meetings. Bandula Ekanayake, director general & CEO of the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall, Sri Lanka’s biggest convention centre, said the hall had received many inquiries to host international conferences, trade shows and meetings. “We recently got an inquiry from the Indian-based regional office of Domino’s Pizza which wants to have an international meeting here with European (partners),” he said.
Achini Dandunnage, senior manager of Sri Lanka Convention Bureau, expects at least 15 per cent growth, on top of the 12 per cent last year, in MICE tourism with many international events confirmed including the Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference with some 1,000 participants. “This year and next year will see a lot of growth in MICE,” she said.
