India is Lanka tourism’s major market
India remained the top tourist generating market for Sri Lanka in the first quarter of 2011. According to official figures released today, Sri Lanka received 37,476 Indian tourists in the first three months of this year.
It is 43.4 per cent more than the corresponding period. According to Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority, after India, Britain was the second biggest contributor to Sri Lanka’s tourism industry, even as the number of British tourists went up marginally by 1.8% during January-March to stand at 27,984. Besides, the number of Pakistan tourists visiting Sri Lanka even though quite small, also witnessed a dramatic increase with 3,829 tourists visiting Sri Lanka against 1,892 tourists during the year-ago period.
Further, Sri Lanka tourism authorities expect the number of holiday makers visiting the island this year to be about 700,000.