March arrivals up 13% YoY in first 20 days

Tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka have increased 13 percent Year-on-Year (YoY) in the first 20 days of March, provisional data from Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) showed.

The island nation welcomed a total of 148,938 international visitors from 1 to 21 March, whereas in the corresponding period of the previous year, Sri Lanka welcomed 131,684 visitors.

This brings the year-to-date arrivals to 641,961, which is a 15 percent YoY increase.

India continues to remain as the largest source market for Sri Lanka accounting for 16.7 percent of the total arrivals, the Russian Federation contributed to 13.3 percent of the total arrivals. Germany, moving up to third place, contributed 8.7 percent of the total arrivals.

Other key markets include United Kingdom, France, China, and Australia.

The Tourism Ministry plans to unveil new promotional initiatives for Sri Lanka later this month.

Sri Lanka aims to attract three million visitors and generate US$ 5 billion in revenue in 2025.