Indians lead Sri Lanka tourists arrivals in July 2025

Colombo, Aug 3 (PTI) Sri Lanka received a total of 200,244 tourists in July 2025, with Indian travellers accounting for the largest share, local media reported on Sunday.

This marks an increase of 6.6 per cent in total tourists arrivals as compared to figures from the same period last year, according to the latest data released by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA), Ada derana news portal reported.

SLTDA data reveals that 37,128 tourists arrived from India, making up 18.5 per cent of the total tourist footfall in July.

This was followed by 23,475 visitors from the United Kingdom, 15,556 from the Netherlands, 12,982 from China, and 11,059 from France.

The total number of tourist arrivals in the first seven months of 2025 stands at 1,368,288.

Among them, 279,122 were from India, 131,377 from Russia, and 115,470 from the UK, according to the SLTDA.

On July 25, Sri Lanka extended its free tourist visa policy to 40 additional countries as part of efforts to boost tourism and support economic recovery.

While an annual revenue loss of USD 66 million is expected due to the visa fee waiver, Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath stated that the indirect economic benefits from increased tourist arrivals would outweigh the loss. PTI SKS SKS RD RD