Tourist arrivals in March registered an 8.6% growth from the previous year, Tourist Board press release said.

For the first three months of 2008, there is a marginal increase of 0.7% in tourist arrivals according to the monthly statistical report released by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority. The highest performer during the period was the Middle East, which registered an increase of 80.6% in comparison with 2007.

Of the 294.6% growth from the region in March, Iranian tourists formed the major portion with arrivals of 1,300 during the month. These arrivals were the result of the operation of nine charter flights supported by Sri Lanka Tourism.

Among the other markets that performed well were Russia with 58.3% increase between January and March while France registered 93.5% growth and the UK showed a 11.9% growth during March.