Sri Lanka’s tourism authorities have set an ambitious revenue target of US $ 4.5 billion for 2026, aiming to attract 2.7 million visitors by shifting focus toward high-spending demographics and untapped geographical markets to overcome the recent revenue stagnation.
The announcement follows a historic milestone on December 29, when the island nation welcomed its highest-ever number of tourist arrivals in a single calendar year, surpassing the previous record of 2.33 million set in 2018.
Despite the record footfall, the authorities noted that the total revenue for 2025 is estimated to close between US $ 3.2 and 3.3 billion, falling short of the earlier aspirations, due to the lower-than-expected spending per tourist.
Speaking at a special ceremony at Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) to welcome the record-breaking 2.3 millionth tourist yesterday, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau and Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority Chairman Buddhika Hewawasam outlined the strategic direction for the coming year.
However, he acknowledged that while the arrival numbers have surged, the average expenditure per person remained around US $ 140 per day in 2025.
“For 2026, we are strategising to increase the daily expenditure per person to at least US $ 160. With that increase and a target of 2.7 million arrivals, we are confident we can reach a revenue of US $ 4 to 4.5 billion,” Hewawasam told Mirror Business on the sidelines of the press conference.
To achieve this yield, the industry will pivot toward markets known for higher spending power but which have been historically underutilised by Sri Lanka. Hewawasam highlighted Saudi Arabia and the broader Middle East as a primary focus, noting that despite the strong flight connectivity via hubs like Dubai, the region remains largely untapped, due to a lack of targeted promotion.
The United States was identified as another key growth area.
“We have had over 80,000 US tourists this year but there is a massive opportunity for growth there,” Hewawasam said, adding that the Australian and Asian markets would also be targeted for “experience seekers”, who are typically willing to pay a premium for unique tourism products.
The new targets come amidst a robust winter season recovery. Despite the adverse weather conditions caused by Cyclone Ditwa earlier in December, the industry has bounced back with resilience, recording daily arrivals hovering around 12,000 in the final days of the year.
The record-breaking 2,333,797th tourist, identified as Prof. Felix Beslin Perera, a professor based in Papua New Guinea, arrived from India with his wife and daughter on the SriLankan Airlines flight UL 162, marking the symbolic achievement of the country’s highest-ever annual tourist traffic. They were welcomed by a delegation including Tourism Deputy Minister Prof. Ruwan Ranasinghe and other industry heads.
Addressing the gathering, Ranasinghe commended the industry’s resilience in safeguarding the tourists during the recent cyclone, noting that the quick recovery and subsequent record arrivals were a testament to the sector’s strength.
According to him, the government has earmarked substantial investments for infrastructure development. This includes an allocated Rs.8 billion in budget proposals and a US $ 300 million multi-stage project funded by the World Bank and Asian Development Bank, which will heavily focus on developing tourism in the Northern and Eastern provinces over the next three years.
The Airport and Aviation Services officials also indicated that capacity enhancements are underway at BIA to handle the projected surge, including the expansion of counter facilities and ongoing work on Terminal 2, with proposals for a third terminal already in discussion.
Source – dailymirror.lk
