Sri Lanka's tourist arrivals surge 42% in November

The cash-strapped country's central bank said that Sri Lanka's earnings from tourist arrivals stood at well over $1,129 million in the first eleven months of the year, a remarkable surge buoyed by the resumption of international flights and the easing of curbs related to the coronaviruses.

The tourism sector is the main source of foreign exchange earnings in the country.

The onset of the Pandemic in 2020 severely crippled this sector, and was one of the major reasons for Sri Lanka's economic difficulties.

In November, Sri Lanka welcomed 59,759 tourists, an increase of 42 per cent compared to the previous month, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka said on Sunday.

The island nation's earnings from international tourist arrivals for November reached $107.5 billion, with the cumulative tally for the first ten months of the year notching up to $1129.4 million, it said.

The country had earned $75.6 million through tourism in October of this year.

The report said that 6,28, 017 tourists have arrived in the country in the first eleven months of the year.

In November, the daily average of tourist arrivals was in 1991, a significant jump when compared to October, which saw 1,355 tourists, it added.

The increase in tourist arrivals is due to the resumption of international flights to the island nation.

On November 18, the luxury cruise ship Viking Mars arrived in Colombo Port, bringing in 900 tourists, according to the Daily Mirror Sri LankaMirror Sri Lanka newspaper.

A super luxury cruise ship Mein Schiff 5 arrived in Sri Lanka with around 3,000 passengers, according to the report.

Russians accounted for around 23 per cent of the total tourist arrivals in November, followed by Indians, who contributed to 17 per cent of the arrivals, according to the Mirror report.

A mobile app was introduced last week by the Sri Lankan government to improve the safety of international tourists.

Tourism minister Harin Fernando said that tourists will be allowed to check their locations through this app.

Sri Lanka has been dealing with unprecedented economic turmoil since its independence from Britain in 1948.

Political unrest in the country has been caused by the economic crisis.

Since April, there have been street protests in Sri Lanka against the government due to its mishandling of the economic crisis.

In September of this year, the IMF announced a $2.9 billion bailout package to help the country deal with its worst economic crisis.

A crippling shortage of foreign reserves has resulted in long queues for fuel, cooking gas, and other essentials, while power cuts and soaring food prices have resulted in a lot of misery on the people.