Tourist arrivals reached a record high of 246,972 in January, according to data released by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA). This marks an increase of 12.6 percent over arrivals in the same period of 2017.

Following a year of a record 2.1 million tourist arrivals, Minister of Tourism Development and Christian Religious Affairs John Amaratunga expressed his confidence in the country’s ability to surpass its target of 2.5 million tourist arrivals in 2018. Revenue also reached a high of US$ 3.6 billion in 2017.

The top tourist source markets were India, China, the UK, Germany and France. There was an increase in the number of tourists from Western Europe, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, South Asia and Australasia.