International tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka between January and October recorded 10.6 percent growth over the corresponding period of the previous year with 1.9 million tourists visiting the island, and 153,123 arrivals (up 0.5% year on year) in October.

India accounted for the most number of tourists to Sri Lanka, followed by China and the UK. Almost 98 percent of tourists travelled by air, according to the tourist arrivals report published by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority.

The Asia-Pacific region continued to be the largest source of tourist traffic to Sri Lanka, accounting for 47 percent of total traffic, while Europe accounted for 43 percent, the US for six percent, the Middle East for three percent and Africa for one percent.

India, China, the UK, Germany and Australia were Sri Lanka’s top five international tourist generating markets in October.