Sri Lanka’s tourism sector has kicked off the autumn season with a 31 percent surge in arrivals, welcoming 111,823 tourists in the first three weeks of September 2025. This is a significant jump from the 85,366 visitors recorded during the same period in 2024. Accordingly, the year-to-date arrivals reached 1,678,346 by 21 September 2025, which is a 15.9 percent growth over the same period last year. India continues to be the primary driver of this growth, maintaining its position as the top source market with 32,570 arrivals, or 29.1 percent of the total arrivals for the said period. The United Kingdom followed with 8,021 tourists, with China, France, and Spain also ranking among the top five markets for the month. For the year so far, India, the United Kingdom, the Russian Federation, Germany, and China remain the top five contributors to tourist arrivals. Looking ahead, the sector is focused on the ambitious revised government target of 2.6 million arrivals for 2025. To achieve this, Sri Lanka must attract an additional 921,654 visitors, which translates to a required weekly average of approximately 63,870 tourists for the remainder of the year. While this required average is higher than the current weekly figures for September, industry stakeholders are optimistic that the traditional winter peak season could deliver the necessary surge to meet this challenging yet achievable goal.
