Sri Lanka receives one million tourists, Maldives fails to meet target

It has now been confirmed that the Maldives will not meet its target of one million tourists this year. Sri Lanka, meanwhile, received one million tourists in 2012.

Tourism Ministry announced in February 2012 that tourist arrivals will reach one million by the end of the year.

The latest statistics publicised by the ministry shows that tourist arrivals for this year at the end of November was 866, 310.

To reach the target of one million tourists, 133,690 tourists must visit the country this month, and based on statistics, this is impossible.

The month with the highest number of tourist arrivals was November with 82,311.

Sri Lanka has reported that the one-millionth tourist arrived in the country at 10pm last night from Beijing, China on Sri Lankan Airlines UL188. The tourist was welcomed by senior officials of Sri Lankan Tourism Ministry and Sri Lankan Airlines.

Tourism Minister Ahmed Adheeb said yesterday that even though Maldives could not achieve its target, tourist arrival for 2012 was higher than for 2011, and that 2012 has been a good year for tourism in spite of several challenges.

“We have to hold our breath until that moment. Regardless of whether we reach the target we will announce the number of tourists at the end of the year,” Adheeb said.

Tourist arrival for November 2012, at 82,311, is also 3.7 percent lower than that for November 2011 which was 85,501.

While tourism in Maldives is going through difficult times, tourism in Sri Lanka is expanding with the end of the civil war. Tourism in Maldives suffered due to the boycott campaigns that followed the change of government on 7 February 2012.