Indian tourist arrivals up

by Anjana Gamage

Sri Lanka has recorded an upsurge in tourist arrivals from India in the first nine months of this year, statistics presented by the Marketing Division of the Sri Lanka Tourist Board (SLTB) yesterday revealed. It recorded 82,434 Indian tourist arrivals to the country up to September 2005.

A full presentation of the total tourist arrivals from the promising markets of UK, France and Germany along with the other Asian countries were presented by SLTB directors handling operational activities in these countries.

SLTB Marketing Director Malraj Kiriella presenting the main figures from Asia said so far India is the number one market with tourist arrivals to the country.

The SLTB has decided to go ahead with several marketing and promotional activities including a Sri Lankan Tea festival from next year with a budget estimate of Rs. 50 million to further strengthen and capture the Indian market, Kiriella said.

SLTB sources said nearly 40 per cent of tourist traffic into Sri Lanka is generated from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. However last year's statistics indicated that Indian tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka had exceeded 100,000.

Tourist arrivals from the UK was 68,493 upto September with a highest spending average. The total tourist arrivals from UK in 2004 was 106,645.

Director of SLTB office in UK and Ireland Jean Mark said the recent bombings have affected London. He said SriLankan Airlines which has 12 direct flights weekly from Heathrow is also involved in promotional activities.

"However some British travellers are of the view that Sri Lanka is still under water after the tsunami. They are also concerned about the misappropriation of funds for housing construction in affected areas. But we are doing our best to sell Sri Lanka as a famous travel destination to them.

We have also got an immense publicity from British media for our promotional activities. A famous travel newspaper named Travel Weekly recently carried four pages only on Sri Lankan tourism," he said.

After UK, the second largest tourist arrivals have been recorded from Germany. It recorded 31,293 tourist arrivals upto September 2005. The total tourist arrivals from Germany in 2004 was 58,258. Director of the SLTB office in Frankfurt, Germany, Channa Jayasinghe said their main target is to get down 70,000 German tourists in 2009.

ITB in Berlin and IMAX in Frankfurt are the two main travel fairs held in Germany annually. The third largest tourist arrivals from the European market has been recorded from France with tourist arrivals of 20,847 up to September. The total tourist arrivals from France for 2004 was 29,996.

Director of the SLTB office in France, Dileep Mudadeniya said President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga's recent visit to France made a positive impact on tourism as a huge potential market. "That was the first time that a President visited the Sri Lankan stand and the speech she made in French led Sri Lanka as the decision maker in travel field too," he said.

Meanwhile, tourist arrivals from China was 6,621, Japan 13,341, Korea 4,905, and Middle-East 8,226 up to September.

The SLTB report also indicated that more Sri Lankans travelled abroad in 2004 than at any time. Last year 680,248 Sri Lankans packed their bags to foreign shores for leisure and employment representing an increase of 15 per cent over 2003.

SLTB Chairman Udaya Nanayakkara said it has cost Sri Lanka US $ 4.3 million for the Sri Lanka rediscover campaign jointly funded by the SLTB, SriLankan Airlines and USAID.

Corporate Communication Manager of SriLankan Airlines Chandana de Silva was also present.