Abacus sets trends for Lanka

TRAVEL: Abacus International Lanka (Pvt) Ltd reaffirmed its commitment in setting key trends and technologies which will shape the future of travel in Sri Lanka and make the most of the growing regional travel.

Travel bookings to Sri Lanka initially affected by the December 26 tsunami have shown strong signs of recovery over the past six months.

Leading into this year, the Sri Lanka Tourism Board predicts that 2006 will see record growth; with travel projections indicating visitor arrivals will exceed 500,000 for the third consecutive year.

Abacus is similarly optimistic about the growth, forecasting that the Sri Lankan travel industry will achieve around 8.5 percent growth in 2006.

Economist predicts real GDP growth in 2006 will be 5.6 per cent, travel growth is 1.5 of the GDP growth. Compared to the predicted Asian travel growth of 4 to 6 percent, Sri Lanka may well become one of the higher tourism growth contributors for Asia-Pacific.

Abacus International President and CEO, Don Birch, says, "Tourism demand is particularly sensitive to health and safety concerns, and recent crises have tested the industry's ability to cope with a substantial drop in business.

As one of the key markets which braved the test and survived, we strongly believe that given the strong base it now stands upon, Sri Lanka has the ability to perform better in the upcoming year and is set for strong growth."