Tourist arrivals tops 300,000
 

by Anjana Gamage

Tourist arrivals have surpassed 300,000 within the last seven months (January to July) after the tsunami hit the country, statistics reveal.

According to latest statistics from the Research and International Affairs Division of the Sri Lanka Tourist Board (SLTB), 304,613 tourist arrivals have been indicated from January to July this year.

According to him, 56,745 tourists arrived in July. It was only 50,525 last year. "We can see this clearly from the May to July figures, SLTB Director General S. Kalaiselvam told the Daily News. "This is an increase of 12.33 per cent than last year," Kalaiselvam said.

Tourist arrivals for May and June were 40,878 and 45,699. In May 2004 it was only 30,162 and 32,119 in June. When comparing with 2004 figures, it was an increase of 35.5 per cent and 42.3 per cent. Arrival figures were 268,648 from January to July 2004.

This has increased to 13.38 per cent this year with 304,63 arrivals from January to July. The SLTB is targeting one million tourist arrivals by 2010. The tourism sector is one of the major foreign exchange earners. Tourist arrivals have started picking up after the boxing day tsunami.