India maintains top spot as the source market for tourism in Sri Lanka

India has maintained the top spot as the source market for tourism in Sri Lanka. As per data released by Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority, Tourist arrivals from India have crossed 1 lakh 39 thousand in the current year so far. This translates to over 18 percent market share out of 7.67 lakh tourist arrivals into the island nation. India accounted for 23461 tourist arrivals in July which was ahead of other countries.

The connectivity between the two countries has improved over the last few months as air travel resumed between Jaffna and Chennai in December last year. The services were made daily last month. Connectivity between Colombo and Mumbai has also been improved with daily flights operating on the sector. In addition, India-Sri Lanka Joint Committee established under an MOU on Passenger Transportation by Sea held a virtual meeting last month with a focus on resumption of ferry services between the two countries connecting mutually agreed points. Ferry services between Nagapattinam and Kankesanthurai are likely to commence soon.