By receiving 100,388 visitors in June 2023—the first time in four years that the country has seen more than 100,000 visitors in a single month—Sri Lanka marked an important milestone.
After ultimately ousting Russia from the top slot, India became the largest source market to date.
The increase in arrivals, was primarily caused by Indian tourists as a result of the successful roadshows that Sri Lanka Tourism Authority held in a few Indian towns during the past several months.
With 26,830 tourists, India led all other countries in June’s tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka, followed by the UK with 7,981 tourists, Russia with 7,968 tourists, Australia with 6,195 tourists, and China with 5,105 tourists.
In June, travelers from France, Germany, Canada, the Maldives, the United States, and Sri Lanka also stopped by.
After three years of poor growth brought on by COVID travel restrictions, China made a dramatic recovery and entered Sri Lanka’s top five source markets in June.
Despite 624,874 arrivals in the first six months, performance is still 46% lower than it was during the same period in the benchmark year 2018.
By the end of the year, Sri Lanka hopes to reach its goal of two million visitors. The sector projects around 1.4 million visitors over the following six months, and stakeholders are optimistic about reaching this goal.
In order to support Sri Lanka’s tourism business, a number of foreign carriers, including Air China, Qatar Airways, and Turkish carriers, have also resumed service or boosted flight frequency.
