Record December boosts 2017 tourism arrivals to 2.1 m

Reuters: Tourist arrivals in Sri Lanka hit a record high in 2017, with the number of foreign visitors in December rising 8.8% year-on-year to an all-time monthly peak of 244,536.

Tourist arrivals rose 3.2% to 2.1 million in 2017, government data showed on Friday. Tourist arrivals in 2016 rose 14% to 2.05 million, which was also an all-time high. Revenue in 2016 increased to an all-time high of $ 3.4 billion, beating the previous record of $ 2.98 billion in 2015, Central Bank data showed. Industry analysts expect revenue in 2017 to surpass the previous year’s record as income from foreign tourists in the first 11 months of last year was more than the same period in the previous year. 

Tourism accounts for nearly 5% of Sri Lanka’s $ 81 billion economy.