Mr Fernando said the country recorded 102,545 visitor arrivals in January and 107,639 in February. The cumulative number of visitor arrivals for the year until March 8 was 234,547, an increase of 9.6 per cent from the same period of last year, said the tourism minister.
Despite the setbacks due to the COVID-19 pandemic and domestic economic and political crises, Sri Lanka aims to attract around 1.5 million tourists in 2023 and 3 million in 2024. Tourism is one of Sri Lanka's leading foreign exchange-earners.
Russia, India and Germany were Sri Lanka’s top three source markets of tourists so far in March, according to the Tourism Development Authority data. Sri Lanka is working to enhance tourism opportunities and improve the sector's growth through various initiatives, including promoting sustainable tourism and developing new products and experiences for tourists.