December 24, 2024 13:39 PM

Sri Lanka revises up tourism targets

The Indian Ocean island nation attracted 260,525 foreign visitors in the first quarter, 21.1 percent higher than the same period last year, while the revenue jumped 28.5 percent to $174.5 million in the first two months of this year.

"According the data up to March, we can reach more than 1 million tourist arrivals this year," higher than the earlier target of 950,000, Deputy Economic Development Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena told reporters in Colombo.

"The revenue will be well over $1 billion this year," he later told Reuters.

The island nation has originally targeted the revenue to just hit around $1 billion in 2012.

Annual visitor numbers have been rising every month since a 25-year civil war ended in May 2009.

In 2011, arrivals jumped 30.8 percent to a record 855,975 from a year earlier, beating Sri Lanka's previous record of 654,476 in 2010, while the revenue leapt 44.2 percent to a record $830.3 million in 2012 after gaining 64.8 percent in 2010 to $575.9 million, government data showed.

Tourism is one of the main foreign exchange earners for Sri Lanka's $59 billion economy along with remittances from expatriate workers, garments and tea.

Join the Discussion
Real Time Analytics