Sri Lanka 2017 tourist arrivals hit record high

REUTERS: Tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka hit a record high in 2017, with the number of foreign visitors in December rising 8.8 percent year-on-year to an all-time monthly peak.

Tourist arrivals rose 3.2 percent to 2.1 million in 2017, government data showed, last week.

 Tourist arrivals in 2016 rose 14 percent to 2.05 million, which was also an all-time high.

 Revenue in 2016 increased to an all-time high of US$3.4 billion, beating the previous record of US$$2.98 billion in 2015, the Central Bank data showed.

 Industry analysts expect revenue in 2017 to surpass the previous year’s record as income from foreign tourists in the first 11 months of last year was more than the same period in the previous year.

 Tourism accounts for nearly 5 percent of Sri Lanka’s US $81 billion economy.