Sri Lanka welcomed 138,405 international tourists in August, which helped the country to surpass the 900,000 arrival mark for the January-August 2023 period.

August recorded the second highest monthly tourist arrivals so far this year, behind 143,039 arrivals in July. Kandy Esela Perehara, held in August, would have been a major attraction for more tourists to visit Sri Lanka in this month.

For the January-August 2023, the cumulative arrivals stood at 904,318.

For the entirety of 2022, Sri Lanka recorded tourist arrivals of 719,978.

The authorities expect to attract 1.2 million tourists this year. They have launched a Rs.1.6 billion global promotional campaign, spanning over 18 months, to position Sri Lanka as a destination worthy of revisits, instead of a mere bucket list destination.

Meanwhile, India emerged as the top source market in August, accounting for 22 percent of the total arrivals, while the UK emerged as the second, accounting for 11 percent.

China, which opened its borders early this year for both inbound and outbound tourism, became the third largest source market, accounting for 11 percent of the total arrivals.

The total earnings from tourism for the January-July 2023 period were US $ 1.09 billion, according to the Central Bank data, which is a 43 percent growth from 2022.

DMN