Sri Lanka Tourist Arrivals Up

Tourist arrivals in Sri Lanka jumped 14.3 percent year-on-year in June, government data showed on Wednesday, with the number of foreign visitors rising for the 62nd straight month.

The number of visitors in June was 103,175, up from 90,279 in 2013. Total arrivals in the first six months were 727,353, from 583,573 last year.

Total arrivals hit a record high in 2013, while revenue from the island nation's leisure sector also hit a peak. Tourism is one of the main foreign exchange earners for Sri Lanka's USD$67 billion economy, with the garment and tea industries, and remittances from expatriate workers accounting for the rest.