The Central Bank on Friday said the substantial increase in tourist arrivals as well as the increase in estimated average spending per night resulted in cumulative earnings from tourism recording a growth of 31.4%, generating $ 1.6 billion during the first nine months of 2014 compared with $ 1.2 billion during the same period in 2013.
The bank said tourist arrivals continued to record an impressive growth of 16.8%, year-on-year in September 2014, with 105,535 tourists arriving during the month. Consequently, cumulative tourist arrivals in the first nine months grew by 22.4% to 1,107,178 compared with the corresponding period of 2013. Earnings from tourism are estimated to be $ 152 million in September 2014 compared with $ 122 million recorded in September 2013.
Sri Lanka Travel Feneteko