Sri Lanka tourist arrivals rise 2.1-pct in October 2026

Newswire and EconomyNext report that Sri Lanka received 168,625 foreign visitors in October 2026, 2.1% more than the 165,193 recorded in October 2025. Newswire attributes the monthly statistics to the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority and says the figure was the highest October total on record, above the 153,123 arrivals in October 2018.

India was the largest source market, with 62,211 visitors, representing 37% of the monthly total, according to Newswire and EconomyNext. Newswire reports that the United Kingdom ranked second with 12,402 visitors and China third with 11,190; Australia and Germany followed with 8,509 and 8,027, respectively. Other markets listed by Newswire were Russia, France, Bangladesh, the United States and the Maldives.

Newswire reports that daily arrivals averaged about 5,440 in October, peaking at 7,045 on October 17. The week of October 15–21 had the highest weekly total, with 42,739 visitors.

EconomyNext reports that total arrivals reached 1,862,304 in the year to date. It also says arrivals had fallen 0.3% year on year in September and were down 1.8% for January–September compared with the same period of 2025.

EconomyNext reports that tourism earnings were estimated at $186 million in September, up 1.5% from a year earlier, citing the central bank. However, earnings for January–September declined 9.2% year on year to $2.2 billion.

Written automatically by AI from the outlets’ own reports, and not reviewed by an editor. It can be wrong — the original report is the authority.