Dinushka Chandrasena
Sri Lanka has begun the year with a headline achievement: visitor arrivals have officially surpassed 2018 levels. The confirmation, delivered at a recent media briefing by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism Vijitha Herath, signals a much-needed inflection point point for an industry that has endured an extraordinary sequence of setbacks since 2019. While the arrival figures invite celebration, they also invite scrutiny.
The recovery is unfolding at a moment when Sri Lanka is once again commanding global attention. In recent months, the island has been named among Travel + Leisure’s 50 Best Places to Visit in 2026 and recognised by U.S. News as one of the Best Places to Visit in Asia for 2026 a strong endorsement of its enduring appeal and renewed relevance in long-haul travel planning.
However, beneath the momentum lies a more complex reality. Despite higher arrivals, tourism revenue remains below 2018 levels, pointing to a persistent gap between volume and value. For an industry that sits alongside worker remittances as one of Sri Lanka’s most critical sources of foreign exchange, this divergence is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.
Recent data from the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority derived from a survey carried out according to the World Tourism Organization guidelines further sharpens the picture. The average length of stay has shortened from 10.8 nights in 2018 to around 8.4–8.6 nights in 2023–24 along with a lower per-visitor spend —a trend that suggests rising visitor traffic, but weaker returns per visitor.
Industry veteran Stefan Furkhan, writing in the Daily FT, argues that this is where Sri Lanka must return to the basics of “Marketing 101”: listening. From long immigration queues and unclear processes to inconsistent visitor experiences, Furkhan notes that a single point of friction can undo weeks of destination marketing. In tourism, when yield fails to keep pace with volume, the solution is rarely louder promotion it is sharper attention to what travellers are actually saying.
This perspective is particularly relevant as Sri Lanka refocuses on India, its most important source market. A multi-city roadshow scheduled to take place within the first half of January will take the Sri Lankan travel trade comprising of hotelier and DMC’s to three key cities in India, as the destination works to rebuild confidence and strengthen industry ties in this key market.
According to the Chairman, Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority and SLTPB, India accounted for the highest number of cancellations following the recent cyclone, prompting closer engagement with two of India’s leading travel and tourism associations, namely, TAFI and TAAI to stabilise sentiment and restore momentum.
Sri Lanka enters 2026 with enviable global endorsements and renewed traveller interest. The next phase, however, will be defined less by rankings and arrival tallies, and more by execution—how efficiently visitors move through gateways, how consistently experiences are delivered, and how effectively the destination converts interest into longer stays and higher spend.
The numbers may signal recovery. The challenge now is turning that recovery into resilience.
