Russian travelers are leading in terms of tourist flow to the popular tropical island of Sri Lanka in the coming winter season of 2022, and most of them head to the south coast – the most suitable place to relax in winter. Local authorities are incredibly happy about this, because. this island in the Indian Ocean is experiencing the worst currency crisis in the history of its Central Bank.
Sri Lanka received 45,560 tourists from November 1 to November 24, including 11,041 tourists from Russia, followed by Indian citizens (8,075 people) and British citizens (3,569) according to data from the Sri Lankan publication Economynext. . Thus, according to the results of incomplete November, Russians became leaders in tourist flow to Sri Lanka, they accounted for 24.23% of foreign arrivals.
“The main part arrives from Russia and heads south – to Ahangama, Weligama, up to Matara, Tangalle, Unawatuna. This area is overcrowded. We are getting a middle-class family audience and young people – not backpackers (backpackers, budget travelers) or high-class tourists, but definitely orders from Russia are very good, Priyanta Fernando, chairman of the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority, confirmed.
Sri Lanka hoped to attract tourists from Europe and America for the winter season, especially those traveling long distances. But European markets are experiencing an energy crisis and high inflation after the US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank printed money, the publication noted.
“Europeans now have their own problems,” Fernando added. “We also had an issue in the German market with a recent travel warning, which is currently being addressed.” According to him, December and January look better.
“Numbers remain low as key European market Sri Lanka faces its own financial crisis during the winter season,” Sri Lanka Hoteliers Association President M. Shantikumar said.
However, officials hope that about 55,000 tourists will arrive in Sri Lanku at the end of the month, while in December the number of arrivals may increase by 10-20 people. According to Shantikumar, the country needs to focus on direct consumer marketing, as most still do not know that the problems on the island have been solved.
This year Sri Lanka received 613,818 tourists with a total capacity of 800,000 visitors. Despite the Russian tourist flow growing every week, Indian citizens regularly and steadily supply vacationers to the resort island: until November 24, a total of 103,562 people visited the island.
“Currently, the winter season continues, we have regular winter flights such as Aeroflot, Azur air, Edelweiss (Swiss charter airline), Swiss Air (Switzerland's largest airline), Jazeera (Kuwait airline), Air France, complement the regular schedules,” said Shehan Sumanasekera, director of All Airport, Sri Lanka Airport and Aviation Services. “This means that the number of tourists arriving between November and April will increase rapidly. None of these airlines are flying to us for the first time, most of them started last year. This shows that the number of tourists arriving between November and April will grow rapidly and that the airlines have confidence in the Sri Lankan market.”
Help: “Aeroflot launched direct flights to the capital of Sri Lanka, Colombo, on October 9, and from October 3, AZUR air began to operate a charter program to the resort island. The months of the high season for the south of Sri Lanka, where tourists rushed, are the calendar winter months, and for the east – the summer months.
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