ECONOMYNEXT \u2013 Sri Lanka\u2019s monthly foreign exchange revenue from tourism rose for a second straight month in September 2026 and gained 1.5 percent from a year ago to US$185.6 million, the central bank said, quoting tourism promotion authority data.<\/p>\n
The rise comes despite a 0.3 percent fall in monthly tourist arrivals last month, data showed.<\/p>\n
Tourism revenue has been falling since October 2025 with the government-owned tourism promotion body\u2019s revision of the daily average spending per tourist and the duration of the tourist stay.<\/p>\n
Total tourism revenue in the first nine months fell 9.2 percent to US$2,245.2 million, compared to US$2,472.9 million in the same period last year.<\/p>\n
Arrivals in the first nine months showed a 1.8 percent decline.<\/p>\n
The island nation recorded its lowest revenue in 32 months in June this year. Tourism revenue has been falling rapidly year-on-year since the U.S.\/Israel bombing of Iran began on February 28.<\/p>\n
The state-owned Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) revised the methodology for compiling monthly tourism earnings estimates in May this year, retrospectively from January, citing the need to \u201cenhance the accuracy and representativeness\u201d.<\/p>\n
Sri Lanka has revised down its ambitious arrival target to 2.7 million from 3 million and the revenue goal to US$4.2 billion from US$5 billion for this year.<\/p>\n
The island nation witnessed US$3.22 billion in revenue in 2025, a 1.6 percent jump compared to US$3.17 billion in the previous year, according to the data.<\/p>\n
Arrivals picked up 15.1 percent in 2025 compared to the previous year, with the number of foreign visitors to Sri Lanka rising to a record 2,362,521 from 2,053,465.<\/p>\n
Tourism accounted for nearly 5 percent of Sri Lanka\u2019s economy when the sector was at its peak in 2018. Since then, the sector has been hit by the violent Easter Sunday suicide attack in 2019, the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, followed by an unprecedented economic crisis.<\/p>\n
The Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority estimates the tourism earnings figure from a survey.<\/p>\n
Sri Lanka\u2019s imports and the merchandise trade deficit have gradually picked up as tourism earnings came in and people in the sector spent their wages and other earnings. (Colombo\/October 17\/2026)<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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