Sri Lanka welcomed over 122,000 tourists in September, as anticipated by industry experts though the figure fell short of the monthly target of 150,983 (https://www.ft.lk/front-page/Tourist-arrivals-fall-short-in-September-amid-visa-issuance-crisis/44-767396).

The month saw a total of 122,140 arrivals, bringing the total for the first nine months of 2024 to 1.48 million.

Despite a 9.11% year-on-year (YoY) growth, the rate of increase has slowed compared to earlier in the year. Moreover, September's arrivals were still 18% lower than the benchmark year 2018, when 149,087 tourists visited the country. Arrivals in September was the lowest since 112,128 recorded in May.