Tourist arrivals hit record high in September

Kandy Esala Perahera is one of the oldest and most magnificent cultural and religious festivals in Sri Lanka that attracts thousands of locals and tourists 

• Increase primarily fuelled by a remarkable surge in visitors from neighbouring India
•  SL welcomed a total of 158,971 tourists in September 2025, eclipsing previous record of 149,087 set in benchmark year of 2018
• January-September arrivals total 1.72mn
• Need to attract 874,506 more tourists in 4Q25 to reach 2.6mn tourist target

 Sri Lanka’s tourism sector celebrated a historic milestone, recording its highest-ever number of tourist arrivals for the month of September, primarily fuelled by a remarkable surge in visitors from neighbouring India. 

The country welcomed a total of 158,971 tourists in September 2025, eclipsing the previous record of 149,087 set in the benchmark year of 2018.

The performance marks a significant 30.2 percent increase, compared to the 122,140 arrivals recorded in September 2024, signalling a robust and sustained growth in the nation’s key tourism markets. 

The year-to-date (YTD) figures also paint a positive picture, with a cumulative 1,725,494 tourists visiting the island in the first nine months of 2025.

The growth in September was overwhelmingly driven by the Indian market, which accounted for nearly a third of all arrivals. A total of 49,697 Indian tourists visited Sri Lanka, making up 31.3 percent of the total arrivals for the month. This represents a substantial increase from September 2024, when 27,884 Indian tourists arrived.

The United Kingdom followed as the second-largest source market, with 10,752 tourists (6.8 percent share) and China was third, with 10,527 arrivals (6.6 percent share).

For the January to September 2025 period, India also maintained its dominant position with 375,292 arrivals. The United Kingdom and Russian Federation were the second and third largest source markets YTD, with 161,893 and 122,144 tourists, respectively.

With this strong performance, the tourism industry is now focused on the recently revised government target of achieving a minimum of 2.6 million arrivals for 2025.

To reach this goal, Sri Lanka needs to attract 874,506 more tourists in the final quarter of the year—October, November and December. This breaks down to a required monthly average of approximately 291,502 arrivals.

An analysis of the past performance suggests this target is ambitious. The required monthly average of over 291,000 is higher than the best-performing month of 2025 so far, which was January, with 252,761 arrivals.

Furthermore, the total arrivals in the final quarter of the pre-pandemic year 2018 was 601,874 (an average of about 200,625 per month). In 2024, the last three months saw a total of 568,657 visitors (an average of about 189,552 per month).

Despite the postponement of a major global promotion campaign and new branding initiative until early next year, Sri Lanka has continued to capture the international spotlight through significant organic publicity. The island nation has received a wave of positive attention, recently being named the number one destination to visit in October by the global travel magazine Time Out. Additionally, it secured the prestigious Visitors’ Choice Awards for Leading MICE Destination and Leading Wellness Destination at South Asian Travel Awards 2025.

However, even with this valuable free promotion, the challenge of attracting the right mix of tourists remains a critical issue for the industry. (NF)