Tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka has reached an all-time high of 2,116,407 in 2017, according to the latest data released by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA)

The arrival figure for 2017 represents a 3.2 growth (65,595 more arrivals) over the preceding year 2016 when the figure crossed the 2-million mark for the first time.

According to the Authority, the higher number of arrivals has been achieved despite serious set-backs to the tourism industry right throughout 2017, including the partial closure of the BIA, floods and a dengue epidemic.

Arrivals in December;

• 2016 – 224,791
• 2017 – 244,536
  8.8% growth rate

India continued to be the top source market with 384,628 arrivals (up 7.8%), followed by China with 268,952 (down 1%) and UK 201,879 (up 7.3%).

Local tourism Leaders

In October, 2017 -Ceylon Chamber of Commerce published a report which noted that over 80% of local tourism industry leaders do not trust;

Tourism research statistics

Tourism earnings figures published by SLTDA

Out of 37 tourism industry leaders surveyed for the CCC’s, ‘Troubling Numbers: Can Sri Lanka’s Tourism Sector Sustain its Growth?’ report, 86% said that the tourist arrivals data were inaccurate, while 83% of them said that the tourism earnings figures were inaccurate.