August 2025 arrivals falls 20.4% short of monthly target set by Sri Lanka Tourism
Sri Lanka received 198,235 tourist arrivals in August 2025. This figure represents a 20.4% increase compared to August 2024 and was adrift of the record 200,359 arrivals in August 2018 by a mere 1.06%. However, it fell short of the official monthly target of 249,019 set by Sri Lanka Tourism for August 2025 by 20.4% and lagged behind the 200,244 arrivals in July 2024 - signs that momentum is softening at a critical juncture in the year.
India continued to be the largest source market, contributing 46,473 arrivals, which accounted for 23.4%of the total in August. The United Kingdom followed with 19,764 visitors, representing 10% of arrivals. China remained a significant market with 12,294 arrivals. Other key contributors included Germany with 12,500 visitors, Italy with 12,247 France with 10,495, while Spain recorded 8,843 visitors and the Netherlands 6,082.
Cumulatively, Sri Lanka has welcomed 1,566,523 foreign tourists from January through August this year. Sri Lanka’s new government has aimed at ambitious 5 billion dollar revenue and a 3 million arrival targets this year. Even under optimistic scenarios, achieving the 3 million visitor target now appears increasingly aspirational.
Year-to-date, India continues to dominate with over 325,000 arrivals, underscoring an over-reliance on a relatively small number of key markets. Stakeholders warn that this narrow focus, coupled with inconsistent visa policies and delays in global marketing campaigns, leaves the industry vulnerable. Policy unpredictability, slow implementation, and bureaucratic delays convey mixed signals to international investors and travellers alike.
Meanwhile, the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB), has planned to hold road shows across Scandinavia (Denmark, Norway, Finland, and Sweden), together with a Consumer Promotion Event in Stockholm, from 8th to 11th in September 2025. According to SLTPB, these activities form part of the SLTPB’s 2025 international promotional calendar, designed to regain market confidence, strengthen trade linkages, and reposition Sri Lanka as a high-value tourism destination.
Kuwait Airways will resume commercial flights to Colombo, starting October 26. The national carrier will operate 4- weekly flights on Sundays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. According to the airline, Colombo remains an important tourist destination for its passengers.
The European leisure carrier Smartwings will commence weekly flights from Warsaw, Poland, to Colombo, via Muscat, Oman, starting in December 2025. The airline will also be allowed to carry passengers on the Muscat–Colombo–Muscat sector, with the service operated using Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. Smartwings is the largest Czech airline and one of the fastest-growing carriers in Central Europe. The airline is part of the Smartwings Group, which also includes Smartwings Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary, and currently operates flights to more than 80 destinations worldwide.
Sri Lanka’s foreign exchange revenue from tourism in July 2025 rose 3.1 % from a year ago to 328.3 million US dollars; the central bank said quoting tourism promotion authority data. Revenue for the first seven months up to July was 2.03 billion US dollars rising 7.8 % from a year ago. The island nation earned 3.17 billion dollar revenue in 2024, with a 53.2% jump compared to 2.07 billion dollars in the previous year.
Tourism accounted for nearly 5 percent of Sri Lanka’s economy when the sector was at its peak in 2018. Since then, it has been hit by violent Easter Sunday suicide attack in 2019 and Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 followed by an unprecedented economic crisis.
Hospitality Sri Lanka
|
|
|
|
