Sri Lanka tourism earnings rise for second consecutive month despite weaker arrivals

Sri Lanka’s tourism revenue reached $185.6 million in September 2026, a 1.5% increase from $182.9 million in September 2025, according to Central Bank data reported by Newswire. It was the second month in a row with annual revenue growth; August earnings were reported up 2.1%, to $264.4 million.

For January through September, tourism generated $2,245.2 million, compared with $2,472.9 million in the same period of 2025, a 9.2% decrease. The country received 1,693,679 tourists over those nine months, 1.8% fewer than a year earlier. September arrivals were down 0.3% despite the increase in monthly earnings.

The reports cite geopolitical tensions in the Middle East as a challenge for the sector. They also note that revisions to estimates of tourist spending have made comparisons with earlier years more difficult.

In August, the government increased its 2026 targets from 2.5 million to 2.7 million tourist arrivals and from $3.5 billion to $4.2 billion in revenue. With around $2.24 billion earned by September’s end, the remaining three months would need to produce about $1.96 billion—an average of roughly $653 million per month—to reach the revenue target. Sri Lanka recorded $3.22 billion in tourism revenue and 2.36 million arrivals in 2025, according to Newswire.

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.