July witnesses highest monthly tourist arrivals so far this year

• SLTDA data shows 143,039 tourists arrived in July, a remarkable 202% YoY increase
• Daily arrival average in July rose to 4,614, from 3,346 in June and 4,048 in March
• India remains top tourist traffic generator with 16% of total arrivals, followed by UK with 12%
• China enters top three source markets for first time, contributing 7% of arrivals in July

Sri Lanka achieved its highest monthly tourist arrivals so far this year in July, attracting over 140,000 international visitors. 
According to the provisional data released by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA), a total of 143,039 tourists entered the country in July, marking a remarkable 202 percent year-on-year (YoY) increase. The previous highest arrivals were recorded in March, with 125,495 international visitors.
With the impressive performance in July, Sri Lanka surpassed its monthly target of 137,594 tourist arrivals by about 4 percent. The cumulative tourist arrivals for the first seven months of 2023 reached 767,913, already exceeding the total for the whole of 2022, which stood at 719,978 tourists.
The daily arrival average for July rose to 4,614, from 3,346 in June and in March, it was 4,048.
India maintained its position as the leading tourist traffic generator for Sri Lanka, contributing 16 percent of the total arrivals in July, with 23,461 visitors. The UK ranked second with 12 percent, bringing in 17,482 tourists.

In a notable development, China entered the top three source markets for Sri Lanka for the first time since reopening its borders for outbound travel after the pandemic. China emerged as the third largest tourist traffic generator in July, accounting for 10,062 international visitors, making up 7 percent of the total arrivals.
On the other hand, the Russian Federation, which was among the top three tourist traffic generators until June, slipped to the fifth position in July. From January to March 2023, Russia held the top spot as the largest source of Sri Lanka’s tourism. However, it dropped to the second position in April and May and further slipped to the third place in June. (SAA)