Sri Lanka’s continuing to remain on the red list of the United Kingdom (UK) will result in a revenue bleed since for every single day it stays on the disruptive and damaging travel list, the island nation would lose over Rs. 260 million, the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) said.

The council revealed that a shortfall of nearly Rs. 8.2 billion per month is expected since the UK was one of the top inbound markets for Sri Lanka, representing 10 percent of all inbound arrivals in 2019, just behind India according to, according to pre-pandemic figures,

“Based on 2019 levels, Sri Lanka’s status as a UK’s ‘red list’ country will pose a significant threat to the nation’s struggling Travel & Tourism sector and its overall economy, which have been seriously damaged by the COVID-19 pandemic,” the WTTC said in a statement yesterday.

It added that for those countries on the UK’s red list, even fully vaccinated travelers are forced to quarantine at expensive hotels and bear the cost of COVID-19 tests, which is discouraging UK citizens from traveling to Sri Lanka.