Sri Lanka received over 7 lakh tourists in 2022 in spite of facing the worst economic crisis since its independence. The tourist arrivals in the island nation marks a significant increase from less than 1,95,000 arrivals in 2021.
According to Sri Lanka’s Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA), December 2022 recorded 91,691 arrivals. This is less than the year’s highest number of arrivals of 96,000 in February and 1,06,000 in March. The December arrivals were dominated by over 19,000 from Russia and over 17,000 from India. A total of 719,978 tourists visited Sri Lanka in 2022, according to the figures released from SLTDA.
Sri Lanka, a country of 22 million people, is going through its worst economic crisis since its independence in 1948 which was triggered by a severe paucity of foreign exchange reserves. Sri Lanka Tourism had conducted campaigns to win back the tourism industry.
In September, the International Monetary Fund announced that it will provide Sri Lanka with a loan of about $2.9 billion over four years under a preliminary agreement to help the country overcome the ongoing economic crisis and protect the livelihoods of the people.
