Tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka crossed the 70,000 mark in the first 17 days of September, provisional data from Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) showed.

The island nation saw 70, 678 international visitors enter the island nation from 1 to 17 September. This brings the year-to-date arrivals to 1.43 million.

The daily arrival average has dropped to the 4,000 levels. The dip can be attributed to the visa system for tourists and businesses which remain unresolved, and due to Sri Lanka holding its Presidential election which saw Anura Kumara Dissanayake elected as the new leader to steer the island nation.

Speaking to Mirror Business, officials attached Sri Lanka Tourism pointed out that there is no real emphasis in resolving the visa issue at hand, as despite having repeatedly highlighted the implications of the same on the industry, a firm action has not been taken as yet, which is to revert to the SLT-Mobitel managed system.

For the month of September so far, India ranks as the largest tourist traffic generator for Sri Lanka accounting for 20.7 percent of the total arrivals. 

The United Kingdom ranks second and Germany third, accounting for 7.9 percent and 7.2 percent of the total tourist arrival.

China ranks as the fourth largest source market for Sri Lanka Tourism, accounting for 6.2 percent of the total arrivals. Sri Lanka can expect more visitors from China in the coming months as Air China gears up to roll out daily flights to Colombo.