Sri Lanka tourism sector records new high in Q1 2025
- CNL Reporter
- April 4, 2025
- Travel and Tourism
- Sri Lanka tourism
- 0 Comments
Sri Lanka’s tourism sector is riding a wave of growth in 2025, drawing over 722,000 visitors at the end of first quarter, outpacing the performance for the same period in the industry’s best year of 2018—but lagging behind record haul of 740,600 in 2019.
The 229,298 March arrivals pushed the year-to-date (YTD) tourist numbers to 722,276—reinforcing the sector’s steady growth and marking a strong end to the peak winter season.
March arrivals reflect a 10% year-on-year (YoY) growth, while YTD figures registered 14% YoY increase, reinforcing the industry’s steady upward trajectory in 2025.
Despite the positive momentum in March, it fell short of its monthly target of 302,803 arrivals, missing the mark by 73,505 visitors. The total also trailed 2018’s benchmark by a slim margin of 4,084 tourists.
Weekly arrival trends showed a fluctuating yet overall increasing pattern, with 53,113 visitors in the first week, 52,639 in the second, 51,459 in the third, and a significant 72,087 in the final week of March. However, the average arrivals declined from 8,579 in February to 7,397 in March 2025.
