The tourism industry in Sri Lanka has achieved a significant milestone, surpassing the US$ 1 billion mark in earnings.
In July alone, international visitors spent US$ 219 million, contributing to the overall earnings for the first seven months of the year, which amounted to US$ 1.094 billion.
This represents a remarkable 43.1 percent increase compared to the same period in 2022. During the January to July period, a total of 767,913 tourists arrived in the country, boosting the revenue from the tourism sector.
In 2022, the US$ 1 billion milestone was reached in November, with total tourism earnings for the year amounting to US$ 1.136 billion. In comparison, the tourism sector only generated US$ 633 million in 2021, and despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, managed to secure revenue of US$ 1.08 billion in 2020. July 2023 marked a significant achievement as it became the first month since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic to surpass the threshold of US$ 200 million in monthly earnings.
Over the past three years, this milestone was previously reached only in January 2020 (US$ 307 million) and February 2020 (US$ 278.9 million). However, in March 2020, earnings dropped to US$ 95.5 million due to the global closure of international borders, severely restricting foreign travel.
Looking ahead, Sri Lanka has set an ambitious target of closing 2023 with a tourism revenue of US$ 2.7 billion, aiming to attract 1.5 million tourists. The steady growth and positive trends in the tourism industry provide hope for the recovery and continued success of this vital sector in the country
