Sri Lanka lowers 2013 tourist arrival targets

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – Sri Lanka’s tourism sector authority has lowered the tourist arrival targets for 2013 as the number of arrivals so far this year has failed to meet the expectations of the industry.

The Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) has downgraded the target number of arrivals for 2013 from an original estimate of 1.25 million to 1.1 million.

SLTDA Director General D.S. Jayaweera has said that given the arrivals during the first six months of the year, the country was likely to attract 1.1 million by the end of the year, according to a Xinhua report.

Sri Lanka recorded 512,281 tourist arrivals to the country in the first six months of this year, an increase of 13.1 percent from last year’s figure of 452,867.

Since the end of the 30-year long armed conflict in May 2009, tourist arrivals increases drastically and in last year 1,005,605 tourists arrived in the island.

The official has said that his own forecast is 1.1 million for 2013. He expects the average growth rate to be around 28 percent.

According to Central Bank figures in the first five months of this year Sri Lanka’s income from tourism increased 21.9 percent to US$ 484.3 million compared to the US$ 397.1 million earned during the same period last year.

Earnings from tourism are expected to reach $1.5 billion this year, up from $1 billion last year.

Recently Investment Promotion Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena lashed out against the high room rates hotels charged in Sri Lanka saying that it is a major negative factor in promoting the tourism industry in Sri Lanka.

According to the Minister some hotels charge absurd rates as high as over US$ 600 and if the hotel sector reduced their rates there would definitely be more tourists visiting Sri Lanka.