Tourist arrivals up 20% YoY in August

Sri Lanka’s tourism industry extended its recovery in August, with arrivals climbing 20.4 percent from a year earlier, led by strong inflows from India, the official data showed.

The country welcomed 198,235 tourists during the month, compared with 164,609 a year earlier, according to the provisional figures from the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority. This brought the total arrivals in the first eight months of 2025 to 1.57 million, with an average of 6,394 visitors per day in August.

India remained the largest source market, with 46,473 tourists, making up nearly a quarter of arrivals. The United Kingdom followed with 17,764, while Germany contributed 12,500. Other key markets included China, Italy, France, Spain, Australia, the Netherlands and Japan.

Arrivals in August were broadly in line with the pre-crisis levels, just shy of the 200,359 visitors recorded in August 2018.

Meanwhile, Tourism Deputy Minister Ruwan Ranasinghe said last week the National Procurement Commission had directed fresh bids for Sri Lanka’s global marketing campaigns, a process expected to take three to four months. 

He added that roadshows and promotions would continue in the meantime, while agreements signed with international marketing agencies in 2024 remain largely underutilised.

The industry faces challenges in meeting its ambitious three million tourist arrivals target for 2025, requiring at least 1.44 million visitors over the remaining five months. 

To hit this goal, Sri Lanka would need to attract an average of more than 358,000 tourists per month from September to December, substantially higher than any monthly total recorded in the post-pandemic era.