India remained Sri Lanka’s top tourist source, accounting for almost 80,000 tourist arrivals in the first two months of 2025. The data released by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority revealed that 492,000 tourists were welcomed during the same period, which has been the second best after 2019. The average number of weekly arrivals in February rose to about 60,000, which is a positive sign for the debt-stricken nation that depends on tourism, apparel exports, and remittances.
The Russian Federation ranked second, followed by the United Kingdom in the top three tourist source markets after India. Over 2 million tourist arrivals were reported in the year 2024, signalling a revival of the tourism industry. Sri Lanka aims to attract three million visitors in 2025, and according to the latest figures, it has realized 16 per cent of this goal. AIR