Sri Lanka’s tourism industry has officially reached over 1.6 million visitor arrivals in 2026, with a total of 1,609,759 tourists recorded from January 1 to September 14, 2026.
This significant achievement occurred during the first half of September, which welcomed 74,637 tourists from September 1 to September 14. The influx of visitors was steady throughout this two-week period, with 37,130 arrivals noted in the first week (September 1–7) and 37,507 in the second week (September 8–14).
India remains the dominant source of tourists for Sri Lanka, contributing 408,024 visitors during the first nine months of the year. The United Kingdom follows in second place with 155,798 arrivals, while China ranks third with 105,294 tourists.
The other countries in the top ten source markets for this year include:
- Germany: 94,007 tourists
- Russian Federation: 81,670 tourists
- Australia: 80,821 tourists
- France: 76,631 tourists
- United States: 44,046 tourists
- Netherlands: 40,184 tourists
- Canada: 32,844 tourists
In the first two weeks of September, India again led the tourist arrivals with 22,541 visitors, accounting for 30% of the total entries. The United Kingdom provided 5,809 arrivals (8%), followed by Australia with 4,783 (6%), China with 4,466 (6%), and Germany with 4,006 (5%). The top ten origin markets for this period also included France (2,647), Maldives (2,646), Japan (2,053), Bangladesh (1,983), and Spain (1,892).
Source: Financial Chronicle Biz English | Sri Lanka Business News.
