Core Forecasts In 2010, Sri Lanka welcomed 654,477 tourists, an increase of 46% year-on-year (y-o-y) and very much in line with BMI's forecast of a 50% increase for the year. July was the high watermark for monthly arrivals, when Sri Lanka welcomed 83,786 tourists - up by 32.3% y-o-y. Other months with strong increases were March and April, when there was 43.5% and 66.7% y-o-y growth respectively.

New Airport To Boost Tourist Arrivals

At the time of writing, construction is ongoing at the site of the new Hambantota International Airport in Mattala in the south-east of the island. It will be Sri Lanka's second international airport when it is completed in 2012. The US$209mn airport, which is being funded and built by Chinese companies, will be able to handle the A380 superjumbo and should do much to boost tourist arrivals to the country, with Bandaranaike Airport becoming even busier as tourist numbers rise. The new airport is hoping to attract about 1mn arrivals per year when fully operational.

Airport and Aviation Services Sri Lanka is also spending money on renovation work at Bandaranaike. In May 2011, a new terminal was opened, with work scheduled to begin on the construction of a second runway able to handle the A380 in 2012.

45,000 Hotel Rooms By 2016?

In June 2011, the Ministry of Economic Development announced plans to double Sri Lanka's hotel room capacity to 45,000 by 2016. The current capacity is 22,745 rooms, according to figures cited by the Lanka Gazette.

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