Sri Lanka’s tourism earnings, workers’ remittances decline in May

July, 18, 2019

Earnings from tourism recorded a decline in May 2019 in comparison to the corresponding period of 2018 owing to the drop in the number of tourist arrivals during the month, latest External Sector Performance report of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka outlines.

Tourist arrivals in May 2019 was 37,802, registering a year-on-year decline of 70.8%.

Such a drop in tourist arrivals was mainly due to the decline in the number of tourists from key destinations such as India, the UK, Australia, Germany, China and the USA, in the aftermath of the Easter Sunday attacks.

However, travel advisories issued by about 40 countries were softened during May and June 2019, which is expected to have a positive impact on the industry for the rest of the year.

These developments assisted in an almost doubling of arrivals in June in comparison to May 2019.

Earnings from tourism were estimated at US dollars 71 million in May 2019, with cumulative earnings amounting to US dollars 1,775 million during the first five months of 2019.

Meanwhile In May 2019, workers’ remittances amounted to US dollars 562 million, recording a year-on-year decline of 3.1 %.

On a cumulative basis, workers’ remittances amounted to US dollars 2,733 million during the first five months of 2019.