Sri Lankan tourism earnings exceed $2bn

The latest data from the country’s Central Bank shows that Sri Lanka earned over two billion US dollars from tourism in the first eight months of 2024.

Sri Lanka earned 2.17 billion dollars in the above period, which is a 66.1 percent increase from the same period in 2023, the Central Bank data shows.

Tourist arrivals also increased by 50.7 percent in the same period, and 1.36 million tourists arrived in the first eight months of 2024, according to the central bank data, Xinhua news agency reported.

In August 2024, arrivals were 164,609, an around 20 percent increase compared to August 2023, Central Bank data shows.

Tourism is one of Sri Lanka’s top foreign revenue generators.
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Sri Lankan tourism authorities expect three million foreign tourists in 2025, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau Managing Director Nalin Perera said recently.