The tourist business in our country has seen a major boost in the previous two months or so, with the goal of achieving the US $ 10 billion revenue objective through tourism. In March, the tourism industry triumphed, two years after the local economy suffered a major setback due to a foreign exchange shortage. This follows March’s record-breaking number of tourist arrivals in a single month.
Between March 1 and March 29, more than 100,000 tourists visited Sri Lanka.The tourism business has been struck particularly hard by the Covid pandemic, which has evolved into a global problem. Due to travel restrictions established by governments to combat the disease, the tourism industry crashed to nil in 2020-2021.
Tourism earnings from the Covid epidemic will drop from $ 1.2 trillion to $ 910 billion by 2020, according to the World Tourism Association. It is no secret that countries like Sri Lanka, which rely heavily on tourism for revenue, are suffering greatly as a result of the decline in revenue.
However, the Ministry of Tourism reports that tourist arrivals in Sri Lanka have surpassed 300,000 this year. Accordingly, 329,095 tourists visited the country between January 1 and April 18 this year. According to the Tourism Development Authority, the United Kingdom attracted 8,743 visitors in April, the biggest number of tourists from a single country during the month.
There are 5,802 Indian tourists in the country. According to the data, 4,908 German tourists, 2,759 French tourists, and 2,645 Australian tourists have arrived in the country. Although the number of tourists visiting the country has fluctuated between 4000 and 5000 in recent years, the number of tourists visiting the country today ranges between 1000 and 2000.
However, the country’s current predicament has resulted in a decrease in visitor arrivals, and quick answers to the country’s difficulties can prevent the tourism industry from collapsing again. In addition, actions should be done to protect the safety of visitors to the country and to ensure that they have access to all necessary amenities.