Sri Lanka’s foreign-exchange earnings from tourism fell to their lowest monthly level in nearly three years in June 2026, dropping 10.9 percent from a year earlier to US$151.1 million, EconomyNext reported, citing central bank data drawn from the state tourism authority.
It was the weakest monthly tourism revenue since October 2023 — a 32-month low — even though visitor arrivals rose over the period, pointing to softer spending per traveller. June marked the tenth year-on-year decline in monthly earnings out of the past 12 months.
For the first half of 2026, tourism revenue slipped 11.8 percent to US$1,511.1 million, down from US$1,712.6 million in the same period of 2025. The trend extends the softness seen across the first half, when both earnings and official reserves eased.
Part of the decline reflects a methodology change. The Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) revised its monthly earnings estimates in May — applied retroactively from January — and lowered its assumptions for average daily spending and length of stay. Officials have said revenue has lagged arrivals since August 2025 as a result.
The figures leave Sri Lanka well behind its ambitious 2026 goals of 3 million arrivals and US$4 billion in tourism earnings. In 2025 the island earned US$3.22 billion, up 1.6 percent, as arrivals climbed 15.1 percent to a record 2,362,521.
