Asian – Dispatch

Sri Lanka’s tourism sector is nearing the 900,000 arrival mark for the year, with 896,884 tourists recorded by the end of April 2025. However, this figure trails the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority’s (SLTDA) forecasted target by a significant 247,253 visitors.

This shortfall underscores the considerable challenges Sri Lanka faces in achieving its ambitious goal of three million tourist arrivals for the year, despite a clear post-pandemic recovery trend.

The SLTDA’s annual forecast for 2025 projected 1.14 million tourist arrivals between January and April. The actual figure of 896,884 represents a 21.6 percent deficit compared to this forecast.

While tourist arrivals have shown year-on-year (YoY) growth of 17.3 percent compared to 2024, the current pace is insufficient to meet the set projections.

To meet the annual target, Sri Lanka needs to attract an additional 2.1 million tourists between May and December 2025. This puts significant pressure on the nation to intensify tourism promotion efforts including the much-awaited global promotion campaign and diversify its source markets beyond its current top contributors. 

Throughout the first four months of the year, Sri Lanka consistently fell short of its arrival forecasts. January saw 252,761 arrivals (17.3 percent below forecast), followed by February with 240,217 arrivals (22.7 percent below forecast), and March with 229,298 arrivals (24.3 percent below forecast).

In April, the island nation welcomed 174,608 tourists, marking a 17.3 percent YoY increase. However, this was 22.3 percent below the forecast and also 5,821 arrivals short of the pre-crisis level recorded in 2018.

India emerged as the leading source market, contributing 38,744 arrivals, a substantial 41.8 percent YoY growth. The United Kingdom (UK) climbed to the second position with 17,348 arrivals and 31.7 percent growth. Russia dropped to third place with 13,525 arrivals, marking a notable 10.4 percent decline. Germany maintained its fourth position with 11,654 arrivals, indicating steady growth. Australia rose to fifth place from seventh, registering a significant 49.2 percent growth with 10,744 arrivals.

In addition to the decline from Russia, the United States also saw a significant 24.6 percent drop in tourist arrivals. Meanwhile, Bangladesh continued its trend as a top emerging market, recording 4,202 arrivals in April.

Looking at the January-April period, India dominated with 157,059 arrivals (18 percent share), followed by Russia with 107,093 arrivals (12 percent share), and the United Kingdom with 87,053 arrivals (10 percent share). Bangladesh stood out as the fastest-growing market during this period, with a remarkable 139 percent YoY growth in arrivals, contributing 20,029 arrivals (2 percent share) and ranking eighth overall.

Source: Daily Mirror