Boosted by Indian tourists, the number of tourists visiting Sri Lanka far exceeded tourist arrivals to the Maldives last month.
Tourist arrivals in Sri Lanka lagged behind the Maldives over the past four years. However, while 192,385 tourists visited the Maldives in January, 208,253 tourists visited Sri Lanka during the month.
According to Sri Lanka's Tourism Development Authority's website, 102,545 tourists visited the country in January 2023. A massive surge in tourists visiting from India was one reason behind the 100 percent increase in tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka last month.
The number of Indian tourists visiting Sri Lanka increased from 13,759 in January last year to 34,399 in January this year. While 17,029 Indian tourists visited the Maldives in January last year, the number of Indian tourists recorded last month was 15,006. India was the top source market for tourists to Sri Lanka in January.
Top five tourist markets for Sri Lanka last month
- India - 34,399
- Russia - 31,159
- UK - 16,665
- Germany - 13,593
- China - 11,511
Top five tourist markets for Maldives last month
- Russa - 20,113
- China - 19,895
- Italy - 19,542
- UK - 16,013
- India - 15,006
A total of 1,487,303 tourists visited Sri Lanka and a total of 1,878,543 tourists visited the Maldives last year. Before covid-19, 1,913,702 tourists visited Sri Lanka and 1,702,887 tourists visited the Maldives in 2019.
Sri Lanka's borders were closed due to covid in 2020 and reopened eight months later in December that year. While 507,704 tourists visited Sri Lanka in 2020, 194,495 tourists visited in 2021, which was a record low for annual tourist arrivals in Sri Lanka. While 555,494 tourists visited the Maldives in 2020, 1.3 million tourists visited in 2021. In 2022, 719,978 tourists visited Sri Lanka as the Maldives welcomed 1.67 million tourists.
After covid-19, Sri Lanka's debt situation worsened and the country faced several economic challenges.
