Srilanka, May 5 -- Sri Lanka's tourism sector is nearing the 900,000 arrival mark for the year, with 896,884 tourists recorded by the end of April 2025. However, this figure trails the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority's (SLTDA) forecasted target by a significant 247,253 visitors.

This shortfall underscores the considerable challenges Sri Lanka faces in achieving its ambitious goal of three million tourist arrivals for the year, despite a clear post-pandemic recovery trend.

The SLTDA's annual forecast for 2025 projected 1.14 million tourist arrivals between January and April. The actual figure of 896,884 represents a 21.6 percent deficit compared to this forecast.

While tourist arrivals have shown year-on-year (YoY) growth of 17...