Tourism earnings top $ 2 b in first seven months

• YTD income up by 8%, but earnings still 28% below 2018 levels
• Needs over $ 2.96 b in next five months to reach $ 5 b annual target 
• July tourism revenue down by 3.07% YoY to $ 318.5 m, but surges 88% MoM
• Average monthly income in Jan.-July is $ 290.16 m; needs $ 593.78 m per month—almost double the current pace to achieve annual target
• Industry stakeholders warn targets will be hard to reach without attracting high-end tourists and launching global branding campaign

Sri Lanka’s tourism earnings crossed the $ 2 billion revenue mark in the first seven months of 2025, though July saw a slight decline despite strong visitor arrivals. 

The latest data released by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) revealed that during the first seven months, the tourism sector has earned over $ 2.03 billion, up 7.8% year-on-year (YoY) compared to the same period last year. However, the figure is still short of the 2018 January-July record of over $ 2.59 billion—the year Sri Lanka posted its highest-ever tourism revenue of $ 4.38 billion.

Given the ambitious targets by year-end, the sector faces an uphill battle to meet $ 5 billion in earnings and 3 million arrivals after a mixed performance in the first seven months of 2025. To achieve the $ 5 billion year-end target, Sri Lanka now needs to secure over $ 2.96 billion in the remaining five months of 2025. 

In July 2025, the tourism industry generated $ 318.5 million, down 3.07% YoY from $ 328.3 million in July 2024, reflecting a slowdown despite the 200,244 arrivals. 

Nevertheless, compared to June 2025’s earnings of $ 169.51 million, July’s revenue surged by an impressive 88% month-on-month (MoM), boosted by higher average daily arrivals and summer travel demand.

Although July’s performance marks a seasonal high for 2025, it remains well below the benchmark set in July 2018, when the country earned $ 408.87 million, a gap of over $90 million, underscoring that full recovery to pre-crisis levels is yet to be achieved.

The $ 400.66 million generated in January 2025 is the highest monthly earnings registered since 2020 thus far.

Sri Lanka would need to average around $ 593.78 million per month in the next five months to hit its ambitious $ 5 billion target—nearly double its current average.

Last week, President Anura Kumara Disanayake addressing Parliament during an adjournment debate on the country’s economic situation expressed optimism, saying, “2025 will become the year with the highest tourism revenue in Sri Lanka’s history.” He also noted that the year has shown promising signs for dollar inflows, foreign direct investment, tourism growth, and export earnings.

Industry analysts, however, caution that meeting the record-breaking revenue target will require sustained high-spending visitors and an aggressive push in destination marketing—both areas where Sri Lanka still lags behind competitors (https://www.ft.lk/top-story/Tourism-industry-slams-delays-warns-3-m-visitor-target-unlikely-without-action/26-779622). The absence of a fully rolled out global branding campaign remains a sticking point for tourism stakeholders, even as forward bookings for winter show gradual improvement.

With the country recently crowned the world’s best island in 2025 by Big 7 Travel,

(https://www.ft.lk/front-page/Sri-Lanka-named-Best-Island-in-the-World-for-2025/44-779631), industry champions opined Sri Lanka now has a prime opportunity to capitalise on global attention, provided it matches international interest with decisive policy action.

Last week, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the establishment of a Presidential Task Force to drive the rapid and sustainable development of Sri Lanka’s tourism industry, in line with the Government’s policy declaration “A new tourism industry – An attractive destination” (https://www.ft.lk/front-page/Presidential-Task-Force-to-boost-tourism-development/44-779931).