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Tourism Earnings Comparison (Jan-Apr)
Revenue in US$ Millions for the first four months of 2025 vs 2026
Primary Sources
No marketing, no meeting: Sri Lanka tourism leaders warn of a boom ...
Sri Lanka's tourism industry faces a significant setback unless a long-delayed international destination marketing campaign is launched without further delay, industry leaders have warned. Speaking at a press conference in Colombo, president of The Hotels Association of Sri Lanka (THASL) Asoka Hettigoda said the proposed campaign had been stalled for nearly 15 years and was urgently needed to sustain growth in visitor arrivals and revenue. Highlighting a troubling disconnect in the latest figures, he said that in January, Sri Lanka recorded a 23% increase in tourist arrivals, but there was no corresponding increase in revenue. Hettigoda said the government had set a target of USD 8 billion in tourism earnings by 2030, but noted that the country could generate up to USD 10 billion annually with proper international promotion and government support. He said that tourism supported around 600,000 jobs and had attracted nearly USD 15 billion in investment. He also expressed frustration at the lack of access to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, stating the association had been seeking a meeting for six months without success. "This is very disappointing for an industry which is the country's second highest foreign exchange earner," he said. Former THASL president M. Shanthikumar said industry representatives had met the president in June last year and submitted proposals to strengthen the sector, all of which had been endorsed but none implemented. THASL member Eksath Wijeratne said Sri Lanka attracted a record 2,362,521 tourists in 2025 — a 15.1% increase on 2024 and surpassing the previous peak of 2.3 million set in 2018. However, he said revenue had not grown proportionately, while neighbouring countries had seen significant gains in both arrivals and earnings. "Something is holding back the growth of Sri Lanka's tourism industry," he said, warning that without an international marketing campaign, the country could struggle to maintain arrivals above the 2.3 million mark in the coming years.
Easter bombings damaged Sri Lanka Economy beyond tourism
Opinion Shocks from deadly suicide bombings on Easter Sunday in Sri Lanka are reverberating throughout its economy in the worst crisis since the South Asian island nation's civil war ended in 2009. ByBHARATHA MALLAWARACHI, ASSOCIATED PRESS Shocks from deadly suicide bombings on Easter Sunday in Sri Lanka are reverberating throughout its economy in the worst crisis since the South Asian island nation's civil war ended in 2009. The blasts that killed more than 250 people were blamed on Islamic extremists. They have devastated Sri Lanka's vital tourism industry, source of jobs for many, and are hindering foreign investment. Sri Lanka's economy already was in trouble, dogged by political crisis, its currency under pressure from a growing national deficit and rising debt. The attacks have added to those challenges. Business is the worst it's been in the 60 years that Ranepura Hewage Jayasena has been doing business in the capital Colombo, where he runs a shop that sells spectacular wooden carvings, wooden elephants and clothing designed for tourisms. "Almost 100% of my business is gone. There are days without a single sale," said Jayasena, 76, looking grief-stricken as he went through the previous days accounts. "We had a war that raged for years, but we had good business. Bombs exploded in Colombo city itself, but that did not affect our business," he said. "This is the worst period I have seen in my life." Seven suicide bombers struck two Catholic and one Protestant church and three luxury hotels on April 21. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attacks, which were carried out by a local radicalized Muslim group known as National Thowheed Jammath. Among those killed were 45 foreigners, mainly from China, India, the U.S. and Britain. For days after the attack, many businesses remained shuttered. Tourists fled: the number of arrivals dropped more than 70% from a year earlier in May and nearly 60% in June. The economy is forecast to grow at about a 3% pace this year, according to Central Bank governor Indrajit Coomaraswamy, way below the 6% plus average of recent years and possibly the lowest level in nearly 20 years. The worst hit have been people, many of them self-employed, living close to the brink of poverty, economists say. "Sri Lanka is undergoing a severe economic crisis at present and it is manifested at both the individual and national level," said W.A. Wijewardena, an economic analyst and a former deputy governor of cen...
Tourism revenue declines despite arrivals; remittances may follow
Sri Lanka's tourism earnings keeps on declining, raising fresh concerns for the industry despite a steady flow of arrivals. According to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, tourism receipts for January and February 2026 totalled USD 730.3 million, compared to USD 768.2 million in the corresponding period last year, marking a 4.9% drop.
"Tourism revenue, arrivals decline; President fails to grant industry ...
"Tourism revenue, arrivals decline; President fails to grant industry meeting for six months". Most visited website in Sri Lanka.
