The Tourism Ministry said yesterday that tourist arrivals saw a sharp increase in May in comparison to the corresponding period last year. According to a spokesman of the Ministry the month of May saw 31,140 arrivals as against 26,307 in the corresponding period last year. There is an increase of 18.4%.
It has been reported that most of the tourists were from South Asian countries. Accordingly, in May this year the number of tourists from South Asian countries stood at 12,495 as against 10,342 in the corresponding period last year showing an increase of 21.3%. The number of tourists from the Maldives increased by 46% and from India by 19.8%.
The Middle East accounted for the largest number of tourists. There is an increase of 79.8% from these countries and an increase of 70.9% from Latin American countries.
There is an increase of tourists from Eastern Asian countries as well; 34.4% from Thailand, 86% from Singapore, 72.7% from Taiwan and 53.8% from Indonesia.
Apart from this, a 14% increase has been reported from South Asian countries and Australia.
It is believed that new packages introduced by the Ministry of Tourism have contributed to this overall increase.
Source: Government of Sri Lanka
