Sri Lanka earns less from tourists despite welcoming nearly 1.7 million visitors

Newswire reports that Sri Lanka earned US$2.25 billion from tourism between January and September 2026, down 9.2% from US$2.47 billion in the same period of 2025. The Central Bank of Sri Lanka’s latest External Sector Performance report recorded 1,693,679 international arrivals over those nine months, a 1.8% decrease.

Newswire reports that the drop in tourism earnings was sharper than the fall in visitor numbers. In September, Sri Lanka received 158,557 tourists, 0.3% fewer than in September 2025, while earnings increased 1.5% year on year to US$186 million from US$183 million.

Newswire reports that Sri Lankans’ expenditure on travel abroad climbed 62.4% to US$937.2 million in the first nine months of 2026, compared with US$577 million a year earlier. September foreign travel spending increased 64.9% to US$122 million.

Newswire reports that the Central Bank attributed a reduction in the services account surplus to increased travel and air transport payments. The surplus fell 22.3% to US$2.21 billion over January–September.

Newswire reports that the tourism earnings estimates use a methodology introduced by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority in May 2026. It incorporates visitor arrivals by country, average daily spending and average length of stay.

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.