Sri Lanka’s tourism industry is off to a robust start in November, with over 30,000 tourists arriving within the first five days of the month.
From 1-5 November, the island nation welcomed 30,620 tourists, marking a 38% increase from the 22,202 arrivals during the same period a year ago.
The surge in arrivals has also lifted year-to-date (YTD) tourists to over 1.65 million, pushing the country closer to its annual target of two million visitors.
In addition, the daily average tourist arrivals have seen a notable increase as well, rising to 6,124 per day – a 40% jump from the 4,384 daily average registered in October 2024.
For November, Sri Lanka Tourism aims to attract 198,069 visitors, requiring an average of 6,698 tourists per day to meet this target.
Interestingly, Russia, the UK and Australia — countries that recently issued travel advisories due to security concerns, are among the top five source markets for Sri Lanka this month.
Leading the arrivals in the first five days is India, with 7,785 tourists followed by Russia with 4,488 arrivals, Germany with 2,752, UK with 1,821 and Australia with 1,227 visitors.
The return of charter flights, including services by Red Wings, Enter Air, Edelweiss and Air Azur is expected to support further growth through the winter season, which ends in March 2025.
Industry sources said these direct charters provide critical direct connectivity for travellers, particularly from Eastern Europe.
They also said that, Sri Lanka also garnered significant international recognition in 2024, with 18 global awards and accolades, with the latest being the UK’s leading travel magazine Wanderlust rating the country as the world’s “Most Desirable Island” for tourists. Others include the Pekoe Trail being recognised by National Geographic as one of the world’s best, Sri Lanka being ranked the fourth most popular travel destination for 2024 by Forbes and CEO World Magazine naming it one of the best countries to visit in a lifetime.
