Sri Lanka’s tourism revenue hits $2.65 Billion in first 10 months of 2025
(Photo by Lou Lou B Photo on Unsplash)
The Central Bank of Sri Lanka states that total tourism earnings received by Sri Lanka during the first 10 months of 2025 amount to USD 2,659 million.
Tourism earnings reported for October 2025 amount to USD 186.1 million.
The Central Bank further notes that this reflects a 4.9% increase compared to the USD 2,533.7 million earned during the first 10 months of 2024.
Meanwhile, according to the latest statistics from the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority, the total number of tourists who arrived in the country from January to November 12, 2025, is 1,972,957.
Of these, 443,622 tourists arrived from India, 180,592 from the United Kingdom, 144,308 from Russia, 123,053 from Germany, and 115,400 from China, according to the Tourism Development Authority.
The number of foreign tourists who arrived in the country during the period from November 1 to November 12 is 82,270.
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It is all very good in the short-term. I see the infrastructure projects are being launched and expedited to encourage further tourism. One thing to remember is tourists are not coming to see nice carpeted roads in SL, though definitely better than broken roads full of holes. It is what they want to see the government should spend a good proportion of money on and preserve. One small example is Coconut Tree Hill almost every tourist on the way to southern SL wants to stop at and take a photo standing against the ocean. Look at the ground. Due to the vast number of people visiting this spot not a blade of grass and the rain is eroding the soil. In 10 years it will be half the size and will slowly disappear. There are no roads in national parks. Again the unsurfaced roads being terribly eroded and destroyed by the 4 X 4s leading to excessive use of fuel, pollution and noise because of the road conditions. Controlled tourism is far better than uncontrolled tourism, if SL is to earn foreign exchange by tourism industry. Otherwise, it will be like the story of the golden egg laying hen,