Sri Lanka’s tourism at crossroads: Wake-up call on World Tourism Day

AS the world marks World Tourism Day today, on 27 September, Sri Lanka stands at a critical juncture. Tourism has long been hailed as the country’s “low-hanging fruit” for economic revival and the year 2025 began with bold ambitions; 3 million arrivals and $ 5 billion in earnings. Yet as the final quarter approaches, those lofty goals are slipping out of reach.

- By CHARUMINI DE SILVA

Future growth must balance increased arrivals with a focus on high-value tourism and sustainable site management

By mid-September over 1.67 million tourists had visited Sri Lanka, bringing in an estimated $ 2.3 billion in revenue. These figures represent the country’s strongest post-crisis rebound and underscore enduring global demand for the island’s offerings. But they also reveal a widening gap to hit the original target. Sri Lanka would need to attract over 1.3 million more visitors in just three months and double its earnings in the final quarter.

On a day dedicated to reimagining tourism’s role in development, Sri Lanka’s reality is sobering. The problem is not lack of demand. It is as industry stakeholders repeatedly stress, a failure of execution. Announcements abound with free-visa travel, global campaign, nation branding; but the delivery has stalled. For policymakers and the private sector alike, World Tourism Day is less a celebration than a wake-up call.

The official Year in Review January-June 2025 report offers a clear snapshot of progress (https://www.sltda.gov.lk/storage/common_media/).

Sri Lanka welcomed 1.17 million visitors in the first half of the year, reflecting a 15.6% year-on-year (YoY). Arrivals peaked in January at 252,761 but then tapered through the monsoon season bottoming out at 132,919 in May before stabilising in June 2025.

By the end of the first eight months of the year, arrivals had reached 1.56 million and by mid-September 1.67 million. To meet the 3 million goal, Sri Lanka now needs sustained inflows of over 330,000 tourists per month in the last quarter, numbers the country has never achieved before.