November tourism earnings fall despite record visitor influx

SRI Lanka's tourism sector continued to struggle to translate rising visitor arrivals into stronger economic returns, with earnings in November 2025 falling sharply despite a record influx of tourists.

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Latest data released by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) shows that tourism earnings in November declined 8.5% year-on-year (YoY) to $ 251.6 million, highlighting a growing disconnect between arrival volumes and actual visitor spending.

The November performance also remains well below pre-crisis benchmarks. In November 2018, Sri Lanka earned $ 367.1 million from tourism, which is $ 115.5 million more than the latest figure, underscoring the depth of the revenue gap even as arrivals recover.

Cumulatively, the sector generated over $2.9 billion in the first 11 months of 2025, marking a modest 3.7% YoY increase. However, this total is still 34.2% lower than the $3.9 billion recorded during the same period in 2018, the year Sri Lanka achieved its highest-ever annual tourism revenue of $4.38 billion.