Sri Lanka welcomes 107,093 tourists in first 20 days of September

Sri Lanka welcomed 107,093 tourists during the first 20 days of September 2026, bringing the total number of tourist arrivals so far this year to 1,642,215, according to the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA).

India remained the largest source market from September 1 to 20, with 32,536 arrivals, accounting for 30% of the total.

The United Kingdom ranked second with 7,906 tourists, followed by Australia with 7,393. China and Germany completed the top five source markets, recording 6,409 and 5,440 arrivals respectively.

Other leading source markets during the period included Japan with 4,271 tourists, France with 3,646, the Maldives with 3,239, Bangladesh with 2,964 and Spain with 2,579.

Meanwhile, India also remained Sri Lanka’s largest source market from January 1 to September 20, with 418,019 tourist arrivals, followed by the United Kingdom with 157,895.

China ranked third with 107,237 arrivals, while Germany recorded 95,441 and Australia 83,431.

The Russian Federation accounted for a further 82,125 arrivals, followed by France with 77,630, the United States with 44,669, the Netherlands with 40,685 and Canada with 33,361.