September draws over 111,000 tourists but misses monthly target 

 Rain or shine, tourists are still drawn to Sri Lanka. Here a group of tourists at the Galle Face Green last week 

– Pic by Pradeep Pathirana

• Arrivals lowest since June but September sees cumulative figure top 1 million mark
• YTD figure up 276% but still 25% below benchmark year 2018
• India emerges top source market YTD with 200,310 tourists, followed by Russia, the UK
• Chinese arrivals see improvement with Golden Week holidays

Sri Lanka welcomed 111,938 tourists in September, missing the monthly target of 120,201 and marking lowest figure since June though the country saw cumulative performance crossing the important 1 million mark for the first time in three years.

Over the first nine months of the year, arrivals reached 1.01 million, a remarkable rebound of 275.6% from the crisis-hit year of 2022, which saw only 29,802 arrivals. However, the performance remains 25% lower compared to the same period in the benchmark year of 2018. September figure is also the lowest since June’s 100,388. In July and August arrivals amounted to 143,039 and 136,405 respectively.

In September, India emerged as the leading tourist-generating market with 30,063 visitors, constituting 27% of the total arrivals. Following closely were China with 8,445 arrivals, the UK with 7,504, Germany with 7,231, and Russia with 7,163. Additionally, visitors from Australia, Israel, the Netherlands, France, and Canada contributed to the influx.

Notably, there was a significant surge in tourists from China, possibly attributed to the Golden Week holidays, which last for eight days from 29 September to 6 October, with bookings up nearly 20 times compared with last year, according to the report released by the Golden Holidays period. Israel also played a role in this surge as its national carrier commenced direct flights to Colombo securing the seventh place.

In terms of year-to-date arrivals, India remained strong as the top market with 200,310 tourists, followed by Russia with 132,300 and the UK with 90.843.

The rise in tourist arrivals signals a promising development for Sri Lanka›s tourism industry, which faced successive challenges due to the Easter Sunday bombings in 2019, followed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the economic crisis in 2022. 

Sri Lanka Tourism authorities are cautiously optimistic about the prospects of continued recovery in the forthcoming winter season, with aspirations to welcome 1.55 million visitors by year›s end.

Tourism earnings in the first eight months of 2023 were over $ 1.3 billion, reflecting a 56.7% increase from the corresponding period of last year, whilst August earnings stood at $ 210.5 million, as per latest Central Bank data.