| Overall Trends in Sri Lanka Tourist Arrivals 2006 |
The overall arrivals for the year 2006 as a whole increased only by 1.9 per cent to 559,603 as compared to the figure of 549,308, registered in the previous year, the year following the impact from the tsunami.
In terms of tourist nights, which is another yardstick in measuring the volume of tourist traffic, the number recorded in 2006, amounted to 5,793,588 nights. This was an increase of 21.9% when compared to 4,754,085 nights recorded in 2005. The average duration of stay increased from 8.7 nights in 2005, to 10.4 nights in 2006.
Earnings from Tourists in Sri Lanka in 2006
In 2006, earnings from tourism increased by 17.1 per cent, to Rs. 42,585.5 million as compared to Rs. 36,377.3 million recorded for the previous year. In terms of US Dollars, total earning in 2006 amounted to US$ 410.3 million, as against US$362.3 million recorded for the previous year, showing a slower increase in dollar terms of 13.2 per cent.
| Average Spend by Tourists in Sri Lanka in 2006 |
The average spending per tourist increased to US$867.4 - an increase of 33.7 per cent when compared to US $ 649.0 in 2005. The average spending per tourist per day amounted to US $ 83.4, which showed an increase of 11.8 per cent as compared to US $ 74.6 in 2005.
Trends in Sri Lanka Tourist Arrivals by Country and Region of Origin
North American and Australasian tourist arrivals were down at 24.0 per cent and - 15.5 per cent respectively, compared to the previous year.
South East Asian tourist arrivals recorded a drop of 7.9 per cent in 2006, as against to the previous year.
All other market regions recorded increases during the year under review. East Europe by 53.1 per cent, North East Asia by 12.7 per cent, South Asia by 9.5, Middle East by 1.1 per cent, Western Europe by 0.6 per cent and other regions by 103.4 per cent.
| Major Countries of Origin for Sri Lanka Tourist Arrivals in 2006 |
Western Europe as the major market source for Sri Lanka has dropped from 63.2 per cent in 1999 to 41.3 per cent in 2005 and to 40.8 per cent in 2006. Market share of South Asia has expanded from 14.4 per cent in 1999 to 27.9 per cent in 2005 and to 30.0 per cent in 2006.
India maintained its position as the top producer in 2006 again, when arrivals from India increased from 113,323 in 2005 to 128,370 in 2006. UK continued its second position with a drop in arrivals from 92,629 in 2005 to 88,306 in 2006.
The Maldives and the Netherlands, who occupied the seventh and the tenth positions respectively in 2005 moved up to fourth and the eighth positions, with substantial increases in arrivals in absolute terms. China is featuring in the list for the first time.
| Seasonality of Sri Lanka Tourist Arrivals |
In the past, the peak months for arrivals fall during November /December/January and the mini peak in July/August. In 2006, the peak months for arrivals were July/August and January to March. The highest number of arrivals was recorded in July recording a 19 per cent increase above the monthly average. In 2006 the lowest arrivals were recorded in November.
In 2006, altogether twenty three scheduled airlines operated regular services to Sri Lanka. Charter flights accounted for just under 1 per cent of total Sri Lanka tourist arrivals Ten leading scheduled airlines (each carried more than 10,000 tourists in 2006) accounted for 90 per cent of the total tourist traffic to the country. These are:
| Rank | Airline |
| 1 | Sri Lankan Airlines |
| 2 | Emirates |
| 3 | Singapore Airlines |
| 4 | Qatar Airways |
| 5 | Cathay Pacific Airlines |
| 6 | Indian Airlines |
| 7 | Jet Air |
| 8 | LTU |
| 9 | Thai Airlines |
| 10 | Condor Airways |
Sri Lanka Tourist Arrivals 2006: Arrivals by Carrier
| Scheduled Airline Operations |
Twenty three scheduled airlines operated flights to Sri Lanka in 2006. During the summer season from May to October, the number of flights operated per week amounted to 257 with a seating capacity of 59,738 per week.
During the winter season from November 2005 to April 2006, the number of flights operated amounted to 273 per week, with a seating capacity of 62,791 per week.
| Contribution of Charter Flights to Sri Lanka Tourist Arrivals |
During the year under review, four European Charter Airlines operated flights to Sri Lanka, bringing a total of 5,116 tourists to the country. This represents a decrease of 2.0 per cent compared to the previous year.
| Purpose of Visit for Sri Lanka Tourist Arrivals |
In 2006, the proportion of pleasure tourists decreased to 67.4 per cent from 85.4 per cent in 2002, 80.8 per cent in 2003, 78.2 per cent in 2004, 69.6 per cent in 2005.
Correspondingly, in 2006, those who visited for Private and Official Business increased to 17.8 per cent. Visiting Friends and Relations (VFR) 7.6 per cent, Convention and Meetings 3.0 per cent, Other Purposes 2.5 per cent and Religious and Cultural 1.7 per cent, constituted the balance.
This change may be as a result of the number of aid support personnel who visited Sri Lanka during the post tsunami period and may also reflect more business travellers actually applying for business visas where traditionally many business visitors simply arrived as tourists.
Of the total pleasure travellers, 47.3 per cent were from Western Europe, 35.5 per cent from Asia, 6.7 per cent from North America, 5.3 per cent from Australasia and the balance 5.2 per cent from other countries.
The largest proportion of business arrivals (private and official) came from Asia with Western Europe taking the second place.
63.8 per cent of those who came for business purposes were from Asian countries. India arrival figures (over one hundred and twenty eight thousand tourists in 2006) is broken down as 48.7 per cent Pleasure, 31.0 per cent Business, 8.5 per cent Visiting Friends and Relations, 6.2 per cent Convention and Meetings, 4.5 per cent Religious & Cultural and the balance 1.1 per cent for other purposes.
| Average Duration of Stay and Tourist Nights |
The average duration of stay of tourists in the country increased signifi cantly from 8.7 nights in the previous year, to 10.4 nights in 2006.
| Number of Nights | Percentage |
| 3 nights or less | 28.3 |
| 4 - 7 nights | 26.4 |
| 8 - 14 nights | 32.2 |
| more than two weeks | 13.1 |
Sri Lanka: Average Duration of Stay and Tourist Nights 2006
The total number of nights spent by the 559,603 tourists who visited the country in 2006 amounted to 5,793,588. This was an increase of 21.9 per cent when compared with the 4,754,085 nights recorded for the previous year.
In 2006, the total number of tourist nights spent in graded hotels was 3,134,243. This was an increase of 9.7 per cent, when compared with the figure of 2,857,575 nights recorded in 2005
.
Tourist nights spent in supplementary establishments amounted to 680,604 in 2006, which was an increase of 73.8 per cent, as compared to 391,520 nights recorded in 2005.
In 2006, only 54.1 per cent of the tourist nights were spent in graded establishments (decreased by 6.0 per cent over last year), while another 11.7 per cent were spent in supplementary accommodation establishments.
The balance 34.2 per cent of the tourist nights have been spent in unregistered accommodation units and private houses. This may also be influenced by the presence of aid support personnel in the post tsunami period.
| Age & Sex Distributions of Sri lanka Tourist Arrivals in 2006 |
Of the total tourist arrivals in 2006, 63.0 per cent were male and the balance 37.0 per cent female.
The largest proportion of tourists were in the age bracket 30 - 39 years, accounting for 24.0 per cent of total arrivals - a decrease by 0.3 percentage points over 24.3 per cent recorded for 2005. Compared to 2005, following age groups such as 20-29, 40-49 and 60 over showed increases while showed decreases in 2006.
Sri Lanka Accommodation Capacity |
In 2006, the number of registered tourist hotels increased to 250 with 14,478 rooms from 223 in
the previous year. Out of 250 registered hotels, 241 hotels were in operation with 14,218 rooms.
However, the supply of supplementary accommodation units (namely guest-houses, motels, inns etc) increased substantially, by 93 additional units, from 415 in 2005 to 508 in 2006. Th e room capacity in these units increased by 1,027 from 3,962 to 4,989 during the same period, also as a result of the post tsunami reconstruction efforts.
The capacity distribution was 36.0 per cent in the South Coast region, 22.6 per cent in the Colombo City region, 17.7 per cent in the Greater Colombo region (including Negombo), and 17.4 per cent in the Ancient Cities region and the balance 6.4 per cent in the High Country and the East Coast regions
| Sri Lanka Accommodation Occupancy Rates |
The overall annual room occupancy rate of tourist hotels increased signifi cantly to 47.8% per cent in 2006, from 45.4 per cent in the previous year an increase of 2.4 percentage points indicating a recovery from the impact of the tsunami of December 2004, that resulted in a dip in tourist arrivals in 2005.
All regions, except Colombo City and East Coast have recorded increases in room occupancy in 2006, when compared with the corresponding fi gures for 2005.
Region-wise, the highest occupancy level was recorded in the Colombo City (64.3 per cent), followed by the Greater Colombo region (48.0 per cent) and the Ancient Cities region (43.3 per cent). In 2006, the highest overall monthly occupancy rate of 64.8 per cent was recorded in February and the lowest monthly occupancy rate of 31.4 per cent in November.
| Employment in the Sri Lanka Tourist Industry |
Tourism generates employment directly in tourism related business establishments such as hotels and other accommodation units, restaurants, travel agents and tour operators, recreation and entertainment businesses, souvenir, handicraft and other shops etc. and also indirectly in those businesses, which sell goods and services to the tourism sector.
Indirect employment generated as a result of tourism is much higher than the direct employment. Research conducted in Sri Lanka indicates that ratio of direct employment to indirect employment is 1:1.4 so for every 100 jobs created in the tourism sector there will be 140 jobs generated in the supplying sectors.
Direct Employment in the Sri lanka Tourist Industry |
The total number of persons employed directly in the tourism sector at the end of 2006 amounted to 55,649 which was an increase of 6.8 per cent over the figure of 52,085 recorded in 2005.
Like in the previous years, the majority of direct employment amounting to 64.7 per cent of the total was in the Accommodation and Catering sectors. Travel Agents and Tour Operators accounted for 12.3 per cent while Airlines accounted for 10.9 per cent. It is noteworthy that the airlines sector increased their employment capacity by 2.5 per cent while accommodation & catering, travel & tour agents, tourist shops and agencies providing recreational facilities showed increases.
Of the total direct employment, 56.8 per cent were in the Technical, Clerical and Supervisory grades, 28.0 per cent were in the Manual and Operative grades and the balance 15.2 per cent in the Managerial grades.
| Indirect Employment in the Sri lanka Tourist Industry |
The total indirect employment in the supplying sector in 2006 was estimated at 77,909 (See Table 21). Thus the total of both direct and indirect employment as a result of tourism in 2006 adds up to 133,558. This was an increase of 6.8 per cent over the fi gure of 125,004 recorded in 2005.
The ratio of jobs generated, both directly and indirectly, to the number of tourist arrivals. In 2006, this ratio was one job for every 4.2 arrivals.
| Sri Lanka Tourist Price Inflation |
In 2006, the overall tourist price index showed a marginal increase of 4.4 per cent, when compared with the previous year. In absolute terms, it increased by only 210 points from 4,796 in the 2005/2006 season, to 5,006 in the 2006/2007 season.
The category in which the highest rate of increase in prices was recorded is the Transport sector 26.8 per cent, followed by Accommodation category 10.9 per cent while Food & Beverage sector increased by 9.2 per cent.
Within the accommodation sector, the price increase occurred in Beach area 12.0, City area 4.3 and Circuit area - 4.2 per cent.
For full report and statistical charts please click on this link (PDF Document)