Sri Lanka hits record October tourist arrivals with Indian market leading surge

• Welcomes 165,193 tourists in October, up 22% YoY, surpasses previous high of 153,123 in 2018
• Misses monthly target for tenth consecutive month, as October fell short by 32,500 visitors
• YTD arrivals up by 17% YoY to 1.89 m; exceeds 1.88 m registered in 2018 
• SL must attract 709,313 travellers more in last two months to meet revised annual target

Sri Lanka recorded its highest-ever tourist arrivals for the month of October this year, welcoming 165,193 visitors, a 22% year-on-year (YoY) increase, largely fuelled by strong inflows from India, signalling robust momentum for the winter season and renewed hopes of closing 2025 with record-breaking numbers.

According to the latest data from the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA), October’s arrivals surpassed the previous record of 153,123 in 2018. On average, the country attracted 5,329 tourists daily during the month, reflecting a 0.5% month-on-month increase.

India continued to dominate as the top source market, contributing 48,113 visitors or 29.1% of the total. The United Kingdom followed with 12,934 arrivals (7.8%), Russia with 11,496 (7%), China with 10,864 (6.6%) and Germany with 9,753 (5.9%). Tourists also arrived from Australia, Bangladesh, France, the United States, and Spain.

The strong October performance pushed total arrivals for the first 10 months of 2025 to over 1.89 million, registering a 17% YoY increase—narrowly surpassing the 1.88 million visitors recorded during the same period in benchmark year 2018.

India also remains the largest overall source market so far this year with 423,405 arrivals (22%), followed by the UK 174,827 (9%), Russia 133,640 (7%), Germany 116,741 (6%) and China 112,454 (6%).

Industry stakeholders attributed the record-breaking month to the resumption of several international and charter flights for the winter season and the surge in global interest following international rankings. 

Given the forward bookings for the season and the rollout of country’s first-ever self-funded and curated destination marketing campaign to boost tourist arrivals amidst frustration over the delay in initiatives by State agencies, they predicted that the year would end with slightly over 2.4 million travellers.

Despite the upbeat results, arrivals fell short of by 20% or 32,500 of the SLTDA’s forecast of 197,693 for October. The authority’s revised projections for 2025 outline three potential outcomes: A “Lower Scenario” of 2.415 million arrivals, a “Conservative Scenario” of 2.676 million and an “Optimistic Scenario” of 3 million (https://www.sltda.gov.lk/storage/common_media/Growth_Scenarios_2025_final_1.pdf).

In September, SLTDA Chairman Buddhika Hewawasam acknowledged that the authority had quietly revised its annual target to a more achievable 2.6 million visitors, down from 3 million, though he stressed this would “still be a historical high.” 

The previous record was set in 2018, when Sri Lanka welcomed 2.33 million tourists and earned over $ 4.5 billion. Sri Lanka now needs to attract 709,313 visitors over the final two months of the year to meet the revised target.

According to the Central Bank, tourism earnings reached $ 2.47 billion during the first nine months of 2025, up 5.3% YoY. Although the Government’s ambitious $ 5 billion goal remains unattainable, analysts are optimistic that the country will exceed last year’s $ 3.17 billion in tourism revenue, the highest since 2018 and the fifth-best year on record for the sector.