Tourist arrivals exceed 1.1 million by end November

Ministry of Tourism has announced that tourist arrivals for 2015 had reached 1.1 million by the end of November.

This constitutes an increase of 1.3 percent compared to the corresponding period last year.

Tourist arrivals in November 2015 stood at 90,218 - an increase of 0.5 percent compared to November 2014.

Most tourists came from Asia Pacific region. Tourist arrivals from this region made up 49.9 percent from January to November 2015, and saw an increase of 1.9 percent compared to the corresponding period last year.

The second best market for this period was Europe, with 43.2 percent. However arrivals from this region saw a decline of 1.1 percent compared to the corresponding period last year.

The third best market was United States, with 3.4 percent. Arrivals saw a significant increase, at 12.5 percent, compared to the corresponding period last year.

Country-wise, most arrivals with 30.8 percent was from China, second most arrivals with 8.9 percent was from Germany, third most arrivals with 7.5 percent was from UK, fourth most arrivals with 4.9 percent was from Italy, and fifth most arrivals with 4.0 percent was from India.

Arrivals from Italy, UK, Germany, Japan, and India increased for the period from January to November 2015, while that from China, Russia, and France saw declines compared to the corresponding period last year.

According to Tourism Ministry the drop in arrivals from China was due to temporary suspension of direct charter flights in November 2015, while the declines in the numbers from France and Russia could be due to the recent terrorist attacks in Paris and bad economy, respectively.