The average length of stay of tourists who visit Sri Lanka has recovered beyond expectations compared to other countries in the Asia Pacific, the “Tourism on the verge of recovery”, report compiled by First Capital stated.
The average number of days tourists stay in the country continues to rise which implies that Sri Lanka is becoming a cheaper destination to travel to.
Travelling to Sri Lanka from its source markets becomes much more affordable than its peer destinations as Sri Lanka offers the lowest combined cost of airline and accommodation fare for the top source markets compared to other Asian countries.
Although occupancy rates witnessed a back-to-back decline, last year showed a marginal growth in rates which is also expected to gradually increase.
On a Quarter-on-quarter (QOQ) basis, the consumer service sector witnessed a growth in earnings or reduction in losses which implies that the hotels sector would see recovery in losses in the upcoming quarters amid the eased political unrest and economic conditions.
Meanwhile, 3Q (Sep-Dec) and 4Q (Jan-Mar) reported higher earnings or lowered losses compared to other quarters amid the winter season.
“Coastal areas appeal to many tourists. The popularity of the beach holiday among the predominantly Western European tourists is evident from the high occupancies in the beach-oriented hotels during the winter season while approximately half of the average duration of a stay of a tourist (six to eight days) is spent close to the beach.”
“We also expect boutique hotels to push up occupancy rates at a faster pace amid the less number of luxurious rooms,” the report stated.
The report also stated that tourism, which contributed about 14% of total foreign currency earnings of the country from 2014 to 2019, moved down to fifth place last year.