Sri Lanka has seen a significant boost in tourist arrivals, welcoming over 85,000 visitors in the first 14 days of July, bringing the total for 2024 close to 1.1 million.
This surge is largely due to the Dawoodi Bohra International Convention held in Colombo, which concluded recently.
From July 1 to 14, a total of 85,426 visitors were recorded, increasing the year-to-date (YTD) arrivals to 1,095,675. The first week of July saw 43,083 tourists, followed by 42,343 in the second week, averaging 6,102 daily arrivals.
India led as the top source market in July with 23,498 tourists, followed by the UK with 7,703 and China with 5,317. Other notable source markets included Germany, Australia, France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the US, and Canada.
The Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) projects a total of 220,950 visitors for July. India remains the leading source of tourists for the year with 207,966 arrivals, followed by Russia with 116,019 and the UK with 97,055.
Sri Lanka Tourism aims to attract over 2.3 million tourists and generate more than $4 billion in foreign exchange earnings in 2024, marking a robust recovery and growth in the tourism sector.