Sri Lanka's 2010 tourist arrivals rose 46 percent year-on-year as the Indian Ocean island's post-war travel boom gathered speed, with December arrivals setting a new monthly record, data released on Tuesday showed. There were 654,476 arrivals in 2010, which broke the record 566,202 seen in 2004, when a peace accord between the government and the separatist Tamil Tigers was in place.
The 84,627 visitors in December also broke the single month record of 72,251 clocked in November, tourism board data showed. Arrivals have risen every month since the government defeated the Tigers in May 2009 and ended a three-decade civil war. Tourism revenue has jumped 64.3 percent in the first 11 months of 2010 to a record $501.5 million, the central bank's latest data shows. The previous full-year record of $416.8 million was also set in 2004.
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