Sri Lanka’s tourism earnings fell 11.5% in the first seven months of 2026 against the same period last year, according to Central Bank of Sri Lanka figures reported by Ada Derana on Sunday.
The country earned US$1,796.7 million from tourism between January and July, down from US$2,031.1 million over the corresponding period in 2025 — a shortfall of about US$234 million.
July on its own also came in below last year. Tourism brought in US$285.5 million during the month, against US$318.5 million in July 2025.
Set against a stronger remittance flow
The decline stands in contrast to migrant worker remittances, which have risen over the same period. Sri Lanka received US$777.6 million in remittances in July, up from US$697.3 million in July 2025.
Cumulative remittances for January to July reached US$5,382.4 million, an increase of US$947.2 million on the US$4,435.2 million recorded a year earlier, on the Central Bank data released earlier this month.
Note: Ada Derana’s Sunday report gave the seven-month remittance total as US$8,382.4 million. That figure cannot be reconciled with the monthly readings in the same report — a July inflow of US$777.6 million implies a seven-month total near US$5.4 billion, not US$8.4 billion. The US$5,382.4 million figure, published by the Central Bank and carried by several newsrooms in early August, is used here.
Why the gap matters
Tourism and remittances are Sri Lanka’s two largest sources of non-debt foreign exchange, and the divergence between them shapes the external accounts. Remittances have been the steadier of the pair through 2026, while visitor earnings have been exposed to the Middle East conflict and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which has disrupted regional aviation and travel demand.
Earlier figures from the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority put July arrivals at 196,845.
Neither Daily Mirror, NewsFirst nor Hiru had published the seven-month tourism revenue figures as of Sunday morning.
