A man shouts slogans during a protest in front of the Temple Trees Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa's official residence, amid the country's economic crisis in Colombo, Sri Lanka, April 7, 2022. REUTERS.
Sri Lanka’s tourism visits rose to 105,000 in March as arrivals from neighboring Asian countries gained momentum and travel restrictions continued to ease.
The share of tourists form Asia grew to 32% of all arrivals, up from 19.5% in February, according a report released by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority. Arrivals from Europe dropped to 58.1%, with Russian arrivals dropping to 8.4% of all visitors in March, largely due to the war in Ukraine and the suspension of direct flights between Russia and Sri Lanka.
Arrivals from neighboring India grew to 21.8% from 13.2%.
While Eastern European tourism had gained significant weight since early January 2021, the market "is gradually waning while the Asia and Pacific is gaining momentum” according to the report.
Sri Lanka is currently facing the prospect of social unrest as citizens hit the streets, demanding accountability for decisions that have led to Asia’s fastest inflation as the nation struggles to meet its debt obligations.
