Sri Lanka hits record 1.27m tourists for 2013

Sri Lanka's tourism tally for 2013 exceeded the government target to reach 1.27 million arrivals but came about after statistics were revised, a statement said here on Thursday. The original target for the year was to bring in 1.25 million tourists. The release of the record 1.27 million figure caused debate within tourism circles as at end November 2013, cumulative arrivals amounted to only 1,016,228. A newspaper advertisement mentioned the final year figure of 1, 274,593, which prompted analysts to question whether there were 258,365 arrivals in December to boost the final number to 1.27 million. Local media reported the numbers have been changed after careful review of all monthly figures, following a discrepancy that was seen in the November figures between the data released by the Department of Immigration and Emigration and the calculations of the statistics collected by Sri Lanka Tourism. The original data released mid last month on November cited arrivals of 112,213, the highest-ever recorded for a single month. After the review, the numbers were corrected as 109,420, only a 2 percent increase from November 2012. However, the rest of the revised data shows higher increases in all other months, sparking dialogue on whether the numbers were manipulated by the authorities to bring the final count to surpass the intended target for the year. Earnings from tourism increased by 4.9 percent and 26.8 percent, year-on-year to U.S. dollars 120.4 million and US dollars 169.3 million in November and December, according to the Central Bank. Accordingly, earnings from tourism during the year 2013 recorded a year-on-year growth of 35 percent to 1.4 billion U.S. dollars, compared to the cumulative earnings of 1 billion U.S. dollars in 2012. Sri Lanka's tourist industry has been booming since a three- decade war ended in 2009. The government has set a target for 1.5 million arrivals in 2014 and a revenue target of 1.8 billion U.S. dollars. The island hopes to reach 2.5 million arrivals and 3.5 billion U.S. dollars in earnings by 2016.