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Sri Lanka Tourism marked another milestone by notching 2,053,465 visitors, the third-highest annual tourist arrivals in 2024 after 2.1 million visitors recorded in 2017. The highest number of visitors recorded was 2.
3 million in 2018. The industry achieved the feat despite marginally falling short of the 2.3 million target for 2024.
The number of arrivals recorded last year is a 38.07 percent year-on-year growth. Industry experts said the country achieved the growth in arrivals braving many odds since the Easter Sunday carnage that dissuaded travelers from visiting the country for some time.
“We had a target of 3 million visitors in 2019 but all that hopes were shattered by the terrorist attacks,” a senior official of Sri Lanka Tourism said. Sri Lanka’s annual tourist arrival numbers are far behind its regional competitors such as Maldives and Thailand. Thailand welcomed 35 million visitors in 2024.
Among the markets for visitors, India was the largest contributor for 2024, with 416,974 visitors compared to 302,844 in the previous year followed by Russia 198,601 arrivals and the UK third with 178,339 visitors. Visitors from China and Germany topped the 100,000 mark notching131,681 and 136,084 visitors for the year. Maldives, Australia and France were the other contributors to the arrivals last year.
The target set for this year is three million visitors..
