Sri Lanka crosses 1 million tourist arrival mark

Airport staff putting a sash on Patricia Roe, 
Sri Lanka’s one millionth tourist for 2024

• SLTPB expresses confidence in SL crossing 2mn mark as well this year

Sri Lanka tourism reached a key milestone on Saturday, welcoming its one millionth tourist for 2024.

The millionth tourist was Patricia Roe and her husband Paul from Ireland, who arrived on 29 June on UL 504 from London. According to the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotions Bureau (SLTPB), this is their first visit to the island nation.

The couple, who will be touring Sri Lanka for three weeks starting from Trincomalee, received a ceremonial welcome at the Bandaranaike International Airport, Katunayake.

Along with this milestone, Sri Lanka Tourism is gaining momentum in promoting Sri Lanka’s uniqueness as a ‘treasure trove’ among travel destinations worldwide, according to the SLTPB.

“This visit indicates a positive outlook for Sri Lanka in terms of future tourist arrivals. As Sri Lanka Tourism gets closer to its target of over two million tourist arrivals for this year, this can be considered another successful result of our promotional efforts, boosting revenue as the third largest foreign exchange earner in the country,” the SLTPB said in a statement.

As per the latest arrival data from the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA), Sri Lanka welcomed a total of 91,666 international visitors from 1 to 25 June. The Authority set a target of 148,695 tourist arrivals for June, which is unlikely to be met with the daily arrival average being around 3,666.

While the 100,000 mark for June was crossed on 27 June, Sri Lanka is likely to end the month with about 109,000 to 110,000 international visitors.

Patricia and Paul Roe lighting the oil lamp at BIA