Sri Lanka has passed 1.3 million tourist arrivals for 2026, with the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) recording 1,313,974 visitors between January 1 and July 26.
A total of 167,401 tourists arrived in the first 26 days of July, the data shows, taking the year-to-date count past the 1.3 million mark.
India remained the largest single source market for the month with 38,785 arrivals, or 23 percent of the July total. The United Kingdom followed with 18,417 visitors, ahead of the Netherlands on 10,540, China on 10,238 and Australia on 8,466.
On a year-to-date basis India also leads, accounting for 332,468 arrivals. The United Kingdom is second with 126,986 and China third with 86,409. February remains the strongest month of the year so far, drawing 279,328 visitors.
NewsFirst reported that arrivals grew 9.7 percent in January and 16.2 percent in February against the same months of 2025, before falling in March, April and June. May recorded a recovery.
The latest release updates the 138,730 July arrivals reported earlier in the week, when the cumulative total stood at 1,285,303. Sri Lanka crossed the 1.2 million mark in mid-July, at which point year-to-date arrivals were running around 2 percent behind the 2025 pace. The country logged 200,244 arrivals across the whole of July last year.
Tourism remains one of Sri Lanka’s principal foreign-exchange earners, and the monthly arrival series is closely watched as a gauge of the sector’s momentum.
Sources: Sri Lanka tourist arrivals surpass 1.3 million in 2026 — Ada Derana; Tourist arrivals in Sri Lanka surpass 1.3 million mark — Hiru News; Tourism Surge Continues As Sri Lanka Welcomes 1.3 Million Visitors in 2026 So Far — NewsFirst.
