Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Sri Lanka's Jan-Nov tourist arrivals hit record high



Tue Dec 18, 2012 3:57pm IST
COLOMBO, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's tourist arrivals hit a record high in the first 11 months of 2012, surpassing its annual peak recorded last year,  government data showed on Tuesday.

The number of foreign visitors has jumped 16.5 percent on year to 883,353 in Jan-Nov, higher than the island nation's record high arrivals of 855,975 hit in 2011.
  
The arrivals in November rose 20.1 percent to 109,202.
   
The number of visitors has risen year-on-year in the past 43 months since a 25-year civil war ended in May 2009.
   
The following table shows tourist arrivals in Sri Lanka:   

                                              2012                                      2011                        Change 
                                                                            (in %) 
      November                       109,202                90,889                   20.1  
      Jan-Nov                          883,353                758,458                 16.5
      Jan-Dec                          855,975          
   
The tourism board expects over one million tourists in 2012, yielding revenue of more than $1 billion, up from last year's record $830.3 million.

Revenue from tourism rose 22.1 percent to $790.1 million in the first 10 months of 2012 from the same period last year.

Tourism is one of the main foreign exchange earners for   Sri Lanka's $59 billion economy, along with remittances from expatriate workers, garments and tea.
($1 = 128.550 Sri Lanka rupees)

 (Reporting by Shihar Aneez; Editing by Sunil Nair)