Sri Lanka set to welcome two millionth foreign tourist today

The Ministry of Tourism says today (26) it is prepared to welcome the two millionth foreign tourist to arrive in Sri Lanka this year.

Deputy Minister of Tourism Prof. Ruwan Ranasinghe revealed that the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) has organized a special event at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) in Katunayake this morning to mark the occasion.

As of December 22, 1,966,256 foreign tourists had visited Sri Lanka since the beginning of this year.

In December alone, 161,383 foreign tourists arrived, with the largest group coming from India, totalling 35,131.

Additionally, 22,637 foreign tourists from Russia, 12,822 from the UK, 9,998 from Germany, and 8,646 from Australia arrived in Sri Lanka during December.

The Tourism Development Board stated that, during the time elapsed this year (2024), the largest number of foreign tourists, 399,224, arrived from India, while 189,289 tourists came from Russia.

Furthermore, 172,404 tourists from the UK, 131,379 from Germany, 120,268 from China, and 86,440 from France have visited the island so far this year.

Prof. Ranasinghe further noted that by the end of 2024, Sri Lanka is expected to welcome around 2.1 million tourists.