Official data reveals a remarkable resurgence in Sri Lanka's tourism sector, as revenues for the year 2023 witnessed an impressive 80% surge, catapulting from $1.1 billion to a staggering $2.1 billion.
The encouraging figures are attributed to a gradual recovery in tourist arrivals, bouncing back from the setbacks caused by a protest-led political crisis in 2022.
The data, released by the central bank and based on a survey conducted by the tourism promotion office, highlights a significant upswing in tourism revenues in December 2023. The month saw a remarkable doubling, with figures soaring from $127.3 million in December 2022 to an impressive $269.3 million in the same period of 2023.
Tourist arrivals in December 2023 also mirrored this positive trend, more than doubling from 91,961 in December 2022 to an impressive 210,352. The cumulative impact of this recovery is evident in the total foreign visitors for 2023, reaching 1,487,303. This represents a remarkable 106.6% increase compared to the 719,978 recorded in the previous year.
