Sri Lankan tourism revenue sees significant increase in May
Jun 04, 2023
Colombo [Sri Lanka], June 4: Sri Lanka's estimated tourism revenue in May saw a remarkable growth of over 200 percent year-on-year, reaching 131.5 million U.S. dollars, according to the latest data from the country's central bank.
This impressive increase occurred despite the fact that May is considered an off-peak month for tourist arrivals, Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) Chairman Priantha Fernando told the media on Saturday.
The estimated revenue from tourism in May 2022 was 43.5 million dollars, data showed.
For the first five months of 2023, the tourism revenue totaled 827.8 million dollars, marking a substantial increase of 30.4 percent compared to the same period of last year when it stood at 634.6 million dollars, according to the official data.
Data also showed 524,486 foreign visitors arrived in Sri Lanka in the first five months of this year, surpassing 378,521 arrivals recorded a year earlier.
Tourism, one of Sri Lanka's leading foreign exchange earners, suffered a setback due to the COVID-19 pandemic and economic and political crises in the South Asian country.
Source: Xinhua
