By Imsha IqbalSri Lanka witnessed close to 90,000 tourist arrivals into the country in December alone, the highest arrivals recorded in a month in 2021, according to statistics provided by the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB).According to social media posts, Sri Lanka’s Down South was packed with foreign tourists during the Christmas and New Year holidays, marking a recovery in Sri Lanka tourism. However, the overall figures are still considerably lower than the figures Sri Lanka recorded in 2020 amidst two waves of the pandemic.A total of 194,495 tourists visited Sri Lanka last year. The year before, it was around 507,000, contributed by the arrivals recorded in January and February 2020, before the local outbreak of the Covid-19 virus. This is a 61.5% drop in comparison.As per data provided by the SLTPB, the highest number of tourists in 2021 was recorded in the month of December, while in January, arrivals were a mere 1,682.However, the number of tourist arrivals increased gradually when aviation restrictions were relaxed and the number of arrivals developed to exceed the mark of 10,000 after August in 2021.Thus, during the month of September, the number of tourists that visited Sri Lanka stood at 13,527, while in October and November, the figures were 22,771 and 44,294, respectively.The SLTPB stated that the top four tourism markets to Sri Lanka in 2021 were India, Russia, the UK, and Germany.Furthermore, according to SLTPB statistics, 56,268 tourists arrived from India, while 16,894 were reported from Russia.Meanwhile, 7,037 tourists arrived from Ukraine, 6,549 from France, 6,124 from the US, 5,754 from Kazakhstan, 5,079 from Canada, and 2,417 from China.The first Omicron variant-infected individual was identified early in December last year, and the infected individual was identified as a returnee from South Africa.During the week that followed, despite the circumstances due to the then identified variant of concern in the country, the aviation borders to the country were to be kept open, as noted by Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) Chairperson Kimarli Fernando, while speaking on reviving tourism inflows amidst the foreign exchange crisis that is prevailing in the country due to the pandemic, during Session 7 of the Sri Lanka Economic Summit 2021 (SLES2021).In addition, issuing a statement, the SLTDA stated that Sri Lanka was named a winner at the Readers’ Choice Awards by Condé Nast Traveller. At the award announcement in London, Condé Nast Traveller Global Editorial Director Divia Thani stated: “The diversity and vibrancy of our Readers’ Choice Awards winners represent a desire to get back out into the world and experience the best of what the travel industry has to offer. As restrictions ease, it is clear that our readers have spent much of the last year and a half dreaming about travel and planning future adventures.”In November last year, Air France launched their weekly direct flight from Paris to Colombo.
