Sri Lanka welcomes 1.2 Million tourists by July 8, 2025

Sri Lanka tourism - Elephants

(Photo by Mosharraf Hossain on Unsplash)

More than 1.2 million foreign tourists have visited Sri Lanka so far this year, highlighting the country’s strong appeal as a global travel destination.

According to the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA), a total of 1,216,344 foreign tourists arrived in the country between January 1 and July 8, 2025. This marks a significant increase compared to the same period last year.

The SLTDA also noted that 48,300 foreign tourists arrived in Sri Lanka during the first eight days of July alone, bringing the cumulative number of tourist arrivals this year to over 1.2 million.

In comparison, Sri Lanka surpassed the 1.2 million mark in 2024 only in August. A total of 2,053,465 foreign tourists visited the country in 2024.

During the first few days of July 2025, the highest number of tourists came from India, with 8,053 arrivals. This was followed by 3,562 from the United Kingdom, 2,674 from Australia, and 2,362 from China.