Temporal Change of Foreign Tourism in Sri Lanka: A Study on Economic Perspective

Abstract

Purpose: Many countries rely heavily on tourism as an economic driver. It has a large workforce. Sri Lanka's economic turmoil has been a big impediment to tourist trips. Tourists are keeping away from this picturesque country because of high inflation, frequent power outages, and fuel scarcity. This impacted the tourism industry, job losses etc. This research investigates the relationship between foreign tourist arrivals (FTA) and nation's GDP, and the barriers to tourism growth. Methodology: The work is completed through gaining access to quantitative and qualitative data. SLTDA tourist reports from 2018 to 2022, World Data (2020), UNWTO (2017), Central Bank of Sri Lanka provided quantitative data. The information comes from an assessment of literature, articles published in significant newspapers, journals. Cartographic techniques were employed for analysis, and the correlation test was used to assess the relationship between tourist arrivals, foreign receipts, and GNP. Findings: There is a positive relationship between FTA and tourism growth. Economic crisis has deteriorated Sri Lanka’s tourism as people are unwilling to visit Sri Lanka owing to uncertainty, inflation, power outages, and fuel scarcity, even the domestic tourist are unwilling to spend money for travelling and leisure purpose. Originality: In addition to demand and supply factors, the article indicates that other factors, like inflation and currency value, play a significant role in tourism development. The paper cites several reasons why developing-country governments must preserve stability in order to thrive all sectors of the country's economy, including tourism.