Tourist arrivals: No y-o-y growth end-December: CAL

• Tourism recovery hits a December snag. Analysts now see no year-on-year growth in Dec. as cyclone dents arrivals

As Sri Lanka’s arrivals are recovering this week, posting higher weekly arrivals than seen during the same time period in 2024, a year-on-year increase in arrivals during December is unlikely due to the weather disruptions,  CAL Chief Strategist Udeeshan Jonas told The Daily Morning Business yesterday (10).

“Based on the discussions we have had with the tourism industry, we see that though there has been a decline in arrivals this first week, the second week is to see arrivals returning to normal,” Jonas said, commenting on the decline in weekly arrivals seen last week.

According to Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) weekly data, arrivals in the first week of December – considered a seasonal month with higher than expected tourist arrivals – saw a dip between the last week of November (23-30) which saw 56, 267 arrivals, to 43,976 arrivals between the 1 and 7 December, due to the weather conditions that precipitated amidst Cyclone Ditwah.

“The numbers are coming back onto track, as we had expected. The weekly numbers are such that arrivals are still higher than those recorded during the same time period last year,” Jonas added. Sri Lanka saw 41,191 arrivals in December of 2024, 6.3% lower than arrivals posted in the first week of December this year, SLTDA data shows.

However, Jonas noted that with the disruptions, it is unlikely that the month of December will see a year-on-year increase in arrivals. 

Commenting on the All Share Price Index (ASPI) of the Colombo Stock Exchange climbing back above the 22,000-point level on Monday (9), Jonas noted: “The market reacted expecting an even deeper impact initially, but afterwards since the recovery effort was faster than expected, the market recovered.”

Logistics disruptions seen by industries like tea and vegetables, like other sectors which depend on transportation of goods from the Central province, had taken a palpable hit, according to Jonas. 

“There are some logistics disruptions in industries such as tea, vegetable and other segments which rely on transporting goods from Nuwara Eliya and other places in the Central province, however the impact is short term. Few listed companies and outlets had been hit, but they too are on the way to recovery.”

Source: The morning