Sri Lanka welcomes over 21,000 tourists in early June

Tuesday, 10 June 2025 03:06 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Sri Lanka has welcomed 21,293 tourists in the first five days of June 2025, pushing the cumulative number of visitors to over the 1.05 million mark.

Although the early June figures reflect a steady influx of inbound visitors, the country still needs to attract an additional 155,964 tourists to meet the monthly target of 177,257 arrivals for June.

This means that over 88% of the June target remains to be achieved over the next 25 days, placing pressure on tourism stakeholders to accelerate promotional efforts and ensure that the month’s aspirations are met.

India remained the dominant source market during the first five days of the month with 6,014 tourists, followed by the UK, China, the Maldives, and Australia.

On a cumulative basis, India continues to lead with 210,074 visitors so far in 2025, followed by Russia with 110,818 tourists, and the UK with 98,158 travellers.

The Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) is banking on the strategic rollout of the long-awaited ‘Nation Branding Campaign’ slated for launch on 26 June, to reignite global interest and drive arrivals in the second half of

the year.

Tourism earnings in May was $ 164.1 million, reflecting a 7% increase year-on-year (YoY), but also marking the lowest monthly income in 2025 so far.

Central Bank data showed that despite the positive annual uptick, May marked the lowest monthly revenue figure so far in 2025 in tandem with the low footfall during the month.

On a month-on-month basis, earnings from tourism saw a steep decline of 56.4% in May, underscoring the volatility of tourism flows without consistent marketing and strategic positioning. Nevertheless, the May 2025 earnings from tourism still represent the highest revenue recorded for that month since 2019, suggesting a degree of recovery in the sector.

However, during the first five months, the sector has generated over $ 1.54 billion in revenue, marking a 10% increase earned in the same period in 2024.

The first five months’ performance underscores the growing importance of consistent tourist footfall to meet the ambitious national target of 3 million arrivals and $ 5 billion in tourism income by the end of the year.

Sri Lanka generated a total of $ 3.16 billion in tourism revenue in tandem with 2.05 million arrivals in 2024.

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