Sri Lanka sees rising number of Middle East tourists

Visitors taking photos at the Sri Lanka stand during Arabian Travel Market at the Dubai World Trade Centre on Monday.

Sri Lanka expects tourist arrivals from the Middle East will increase to 10 per cent of the total in 2016.
This was stated by Sri Lanka's Tourism Minister John Amaratunga during a news conference at the Arabian Travel Market in Dubai on Monday.
"It [tourist arrivals] was 7-8 per cent last year," the minister informed reporters. Sri Lanka is an ideal destination for Middle East tourists and this growth number is achievable, he said.
Talking about main markets in the Gulf, he mentioned that Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Oman are main source of tourists from the region for the island nation.
He mentioned that the country's prime minister is very keen to develop tourism sector and it will help to achieve the targets in a couple of years.
Last year total tourist arrivals was 2.5 million, Amaratunga said, adding: "I am confident we can achieve 4.5 million by 2020."
Talking about top global markets for inbound tourists to Sri Lanka, he said China and India are the top markets.
The country witnessed 22.8 per cent growth in tourist arrivals in March 2016 compare to the same period last year. The country received 192,841 visitors, mainly from China and India.
In March, Chinese arrivals including from Hong Kong and Macau were 19,645, a 40 per cent increase from last year while India recorded 30,170, a 38.2 per cent increase from March 2015, according to statistics from the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau.
Visitors from Britain were up 32 per cent to 44,813 with overall arrivals from Western Europe up 22.6 per cent to 69,972.
Last year, China displaced India from its long time pole position as Sri Lanka's top generating market. India became the island nation's top market after an administration in 2001, improved economic freedom and ended visa requirements.
Chinese tourist arrivals in the island nation have seen a rising trend since the end of the country's 30-year civil conflict in 2009.
Statistics released by the state bureau disclosed that the number of Chinese tourists rose 17.4 percent to 32,186 in February compared to the 26,083 who arrived in January.
-abdulbasit@khaleejtimes.com