Sri Lanka records over 1.6 million tourist arrivals in 2026

Sri Lanka’s tourism sector has surpassed 1.6 million tourist arrivals in 2026, with a total of 1,609,759 visitors recorded between January 1 and September 14.

The milestone was reached during the first half of September, when 74,637 tourists arrived in the country between September 1 and 14.

Arrivals remained relatively steady throughout the two-week period, with 37,130 visitors recorded from September 1 to 7 and another 37,507 between September 8 and 14.

India remained Sri Lanka’s largest tourist source market by a considerable margin, accounting for 408,024 arrivals during the January 1 to September 14 period. The United Kingdom followed with 155,798 visitors, while China ranked third with 105,294 arrivals.

Germany recorded 94,007 arrivals, followed by Russia with 81,670, Australia with 80,821, France with 76,631 and the United States with 44,046.

The Netherlands contributed 40,184 visitors, while Canada recorded 32,844 arrivals, completing the top 10 source markets for the year so far.

India also led the source markets during the first 14 days of September, contributing 22,541 visitors, or 30% of all arrivals recorded during the period.

The UK followed with 5,809 tourists, accounting for 8% of arrivals, while Australia and China each contributed 6%, with 4,783 and 4,466 visitors respectively.

Germany accounted for another 4,006 arrivals, or 5% of the total. France recorded 2,647 visitors, followed closely by the Maldives with 2,646.

Japan contributed 2,053 arrivals, while Bangladesh and Spain recorded 1,983 and 1,892 visitors respectively, completing the top 10 source markets for the first half of September.