Sri Lanka Tourism tops 1.2 m arrivals amidst sluggish July start

First eight days of July welcome 48,300 tourists, down from 50,141 in 2024 during critical summer travel window

- BY CHARUMINI DE SILVA

SRI Lanka's tourism industry has crossed the 1.2 million mark in arrivals for 2025, with 48,300 tourists visiting the country in the first eight days of July.

This brings the year-to-date (YTD) figure to 1,216,344 arrivals, a 15% year-on-year (YoY) increase. However, with an ambitious target of 3 million arrivals and $ 5 billion in revenue set for the year, the country must attract over 1.78 million (1,783,656) tourists or nearly 60% of the full-year goal over the second half of 2025.