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Sri Lanka earned $ 500 m from tourism in 2021 

06 Jan 2022

  • Aims to attract $ 1.1 b this year
By Imsha Iqbal  Sri Lanka has been able to earn $ 500 million of revenue from the tourism sector during the last year (2021), The Morning Business learns. Speaking to us, Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) Director General (DG) Dhammika Wijesinghe stated: “Last year, it (tourism sector revenue) was about $ 500 million.” The SLTDA now aims to earn approximately $ 1.1 billion in tourism earnings this year (2022).  Meanwhile, Sri Lanka witnessed tourist arrivals from many countries. The total number of tourists who visited the country last year was 194,000, of which the highest number of tourist arrivals in the island was observed during the month of December as the number of tourists was at almost 90,000, in accordance with the statistics provided by the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB). The SLTPB further noted that from the month of September onwards, tourist arrivals grew. Accordingly, in September, the number of tourists that arrived in the country stood at 13,527, while in October and November, the reported figures were 22,771 and 44,294, respectively. With regard to the top markets for tourism during last year, 56,268 tourists arrived from India, 16,894 from Russia, 7,037 from Ukraine, 6,549 from France, 6,124 from the US, 5,754 from Kazakhstan, 5,079 from Canada, and 2,417 from China. The Government of Sri Lanka also intervened in providing the sector employees a loan relief package with the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL), a relief package for vehicle leasing, and an electricity bill concession, while this loan relief package is expected to be in effect till June this year for sector employees who obtained loans from state financial institutions. Moreover, private financial institutions were provided the said concession till March 2022. The SLTDA recently issued a statement, stating that Sri Lanka was named a winner at the Readers’ Choice Awards by Condé Nast Traveller and during the award announcement in London, Condé Nast Traveller Global Editorial Director, Divia Thani said: “The diversity and vibrancy of our Readers’ Choice Awards winners represent a desire to get back out into the world and experience the best of what the travel industry has to offer. As restrictions ease, it is clear that our readers have spent much of the last year and a half dreaming about travel and planning future adventures.” Meanwhile, in  May 2021, Bloomberg’s “Explore the New Seven Wonders of the World” featured Sri Lanka and Global Wellness Institute ranked the country as the fourth country on the world’s top wellness tourism destination list. Additionally, Sri Lanka expects to welcome digital nomads to the country. 


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