Chinese tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka see big surge

Tourist arrivals from China to Sri Lanka during the first seven months jumped 144.2 percent compared to the same period last year, latest data from Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) showed on Tuesday.

Tourists from China increased from 27,599 to 67,408 in the seven months of this year. In July, Chinese travelers rose by 172.2 percent, growing from 5,576 in July 2013 to 15,178 last month, data showed.

Sri Lanka's overall tourist arrivals rose by 25.2 percent in July this year compared to the same period in 2013, SLTDA said.

The month recorded 133,971 tourists arriving in the country compared to the 107,016 that arrived in July 2013.

In the first seven months of this year a total of 861,324 tourists arrived in the island recording a 24.7 percent increase from the 690,589 came during the corresponding period in 2013.

Most of the tourist arrivals were from West Europe with 278,667 tourists visiting in the first seven months of this year recording a 15.6 percent increase over corresponding 2013 figures.

For the month of July, 54,857 tourists arrived in the island, 10.3 percent more than July 2013.

Last month, 8,345 Chinese arrived in Sri Lanka, more than double the 3,707 that landed in June 2013.