Sri Lanka welcomes over 187,000 tourists in July

• Tourism sees robust growth in July arrivals with 31% YoY increase
• Cumulative arrivals reach 1.19 m 
• July arrivals still 14% lower than benchmark 2018
• Misses tourist arrival targets from Jan.-July 2024
• India, UK and China emerge as top source markets in July

By Charumini de Silva

Sri Lanka Tourism has seen a significant increase in tourist arrivals for the month of July, welcoming a total of 187,810 visitors. This surge in visitors has propelled the cumulative arrivals for 2024 to 1.19 million so far. 

July arrivals reflect a substantial 31% year-on-year (YoY) growth, although it is still 14% lower than the benchmark year of 2018, when 217,829 tourists visited the country.

The average daily arrivals in July stood at 6,058, marking a notable increase from the 3,782 average seen in June 2024, traditionally considered an off-peak month.

However, Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) fell short of its projected arrival figure of 220,599 for July, continuing a trend of missing monthly targets throughout the year. 

The shortfall for each month from January to July was 13.9%, 8.4%, 11.4%, 18.5%, 14.4%, 23% and 15% respectively. 

In July, India led as the primary source market, bringing in 41,173 visitors, followed by the UK with 20,837 and China with 13,040 arrivals. Other significant sources included Netherlands, Germany, France, Australia, Switzerland, the US and Canada.

Industry experts have suggested that the swift implementation of a visa-free policy could potentially boost tourist arrivals beyond current projections, possibly reaching up to 2.5 million visitors.

Looking ahead, Sri Lanka Tourism aims to attract 2.3 million tourists by the end of 2024, aiming to generate over $ 4 billion in revenue. 

India stood strong as the top source market year-to-date (YTD) with figures showing 225,641 arrivals, followed by Russia with 118,682 and the UK with 110,189.