Sri Lanka tourist arrivals drop 0.26-pct in September 2026

ECONOMYNEXT – Visitor numbers into Sri Lanka fell 0.26 percent in September 2026, compared to a year ago, official data showed.

Total arrivals in September were 158,557 compared to 158,971 in the same month last year.

India continued to be the top source with 51,931 visitors, making up a 32 percent of total arrivals.

There were 11,722 visitors from China and from 10,951 from Australia.

There have been 1,693,679 visitors to the island so far this year.

Tourist arrivals fell 3.3 percent in the month compared to last August.

Total arrivals during January-August 2026 fell 2 percent, compared to the corresponding period of 2025.

Tourism earnings were estimated at 264 million dollars in August, a 2.1 percent increase from a year earlier.

But total tourism earnings during January-August 2026 fell 10 percent to 2.1 billion dollars, compared to 2025.(Colombo/Oct2/2026)