The latest statistics of Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) revealed a total of 1,804,873 tourist arrivals so far this year, bringing the count much closer to the target of 2.3 million tourist arrivals set for 2024. 

The recent report revealed 184,158 tourist arrivals in the country between November 01 and 30. During the third week of last month, 42,376 tourist arrivals were recorded as the highest number of arrivals. 

The highest number of tourists arrived from India, with a total of 41,120 Indian tourists touching down in Sri Lanka while the Russian Federation had the second highest number of tourist arrivals, with a total of 29,053 arrivals. 

Meanwhile, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka’s (CBSL) economic indicator report revealed that the tourism earnings have increased up to USD 272.9 million this November, compared to last year’s November earnings of USD 205.3 million. 

Overall, the tourism earnings from January to November for 2024 is USD 2.8 billion, indicating a 56% increase compared to last year’s earnings of USD 1.7 billion between January and November.

In the meantime, Sri Lanka’s foreign remittances from migrant workers deposited in November this year has amounted to USD 530.1 million, marking an improvement compared to the USD 517.4 million figure recorded in October.

The CBSL reported that workers’ remittances recorded in August 2024 show an increase of USD 425 million compared to the same period last year.

In 2023, workers’ remittances amounted to USD 5.39 billion from January to November. 

In comparison, foreign remittances recorded from January to November 2024 stands at USD 5.96 billion.

Accordingly, the cumulative influx of foreign remittances from January to November this year reflects a year-on-year growth of 10.4%.