In the initial half of August, Sri Lanka experienced an influx of 30,303 tourists, a significant number that is likely to push the cumulative arrivals for this year over the 800,000 mark. This surge includes the arrivals recorded on August 7 and 8.

The latest data released by Sri Lanka Development Authority (SLTDA) reveals that from January 1 to August 6, there were a total of 798,216 tourist arrivals.

Comparatively, in all of last year (2022), Sri Lanka only welcomed a mere 719,978 visitors. The political and economic instability during that period prompted several countries to issue travel advisories against visiting Sri Lanka.

June witnessed the highest monthly influx of tourists this year with a total of143039 arrivals. India emerged as the top contributor during the first six days of August with4.608 visitors accounting for approximately15 percentofthe overall tourist arrival count.

The United Kingdom ranked second with4.254 tourists making up around14 percentofthe total numberofarrivals.

China secured third place as it contributed7 percentor2.246 individuals tothe tourism marketduringthat same time frame