Uber Eats has launched in Nuwara Eliya, the central highlands resort town, in time for the April holiday season when domestic and international visitors flock to the area for cooler weather and the Sinhala-Tamil New Year break.
The service offers a mix of Sri Lankan, Indian, Chinese, Thai and Arabic cuisine alongside global brands such as KFC, Pizza Hut and Domino’s, and operates extended hours into the late evening when most local outlets normally close. To deal with the hill climate, Uber said its delivery partners in Nuwara Eliya will use specially designed temperature-controlled insulated bags so that meals stay hot in transit.
The Nuwara Eliya rollout extends a 2025 expansion across 12 new districts including Hikkaduwa, Ambalangoda, Chilaw, Wennappuwa, Puttalam, Jaffna, Gampola, Matale, Matara, Weligama, Mirissa and Anuradhapura.
“Our continuing expansion is aimed at making everyday dining more convenient while supporting local restaurants and creating earning opportunities for delivery partners,” Varun Wijewardane, Uber Sri Lanka Country Manager for Delivery, said in remarks reported by Daily FT.
The launch is timed to coincide with the Avurudu travel rush, which typically sees Nuwara Eliya hotels fully booked from early April through the holiday period. Tourist arrivals to the hill country have remained strong even as the broader March arrivals figures slipped 19%, and Uber’s expansion is a vote of confidence in domestic consumer demand at a time when the wider economy is absorbing the twin shocks of the Middle East energy crisis and the new United States tariff regime.
