Sri Lanka crosses 900,000 tourist arrivals mark in 2025
Daily FT: Sri Lanka’s tourism industry has surpassed 900,000 tourist arrivals for this year, enhancing the optimism in the sector of achieving the ambitious goal of 3 million tourists by year-end.
The milestone was crossed on 1 May with the arrival of 6,311 visitors, bringing the total to 903,105.
This achievement highlights robust growth in the sector, as it marks a threshold previously reached only in June 2024.
As per the latest data shared by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA), as of 4 May, the year-to-date (YTD) arrivals figure has climbed to 917,406 with the footfall of 20,522 tourists during the first four days of the month.
The SLTDA projects 165,118 arrivals for the month of May, aiming to regain monthly momentum despite having missed monthly targets for the first four months of 2025, and not exceeding the 250,000 arrivals mark per month since February.
From 1 to 4 May, India, the UK, and China emerged as the leading source markets.
For the full year 2025, Sri Lanka Tourism is targeting 3 million tourist arrivals and a $ 5 billion revenue goal, a target that remains ambitious at this point.
OSL take:
Sri Lanka’s tourism industry is on a fast track to making the country a key tourism destination in the South Asian region. The tourism industry is also a key revenue generator to the Sri Lankan economy. With Sri Lanka being identified as a must visit tourist destination and the local authorities conducting promotional campaigns while working on introducing new tourism concepts, the country’s tourism industry is on a clear expansion path. These expansions have resulted in many business/investment opportunities in the country’s tourism industry and related sectors like leisure and hospitality. The business/investment opportunities in Sri Lanka’s tourism industry are manifold and also include the development of infrastructure and supplementary infrastructure facilities required to meet the increasing demand. The increasing business potential in Sri Lanka’s tourism industry is evident by the steadily growing tourist arrival to the country as well as by the interest shown by international leisure and hospitality brands in doing business in the country’s growing industry. Foreign businesses/investors could therefore confidently explore the expanding business/investment opportunities in Sri Lanka’s tourism industry and related sectors.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/20250514/Z_2 |