Tourism Development Minister John Amaratunga yesterday confirmed that Sri Lanka had exceeded a tourist arrival target of two million for 2016.

“Sri Lanka’s tourist arrivals hit a record high in 2016 by surpassing two million,” said the Minister, who is remaining upbeat over the industry’s progress, which is expecting revenue of over $ 3.5 billion and 2.2 million tourist arrivals. He said the official figures would be released during the course of this week. The Minister said the industry would record an income of $ 4.5 billion this year with 2.5 million tourist arrivals as Sri Lanka gains much attention from tourists globally as the most popular and safest tourist destination in South Asia. “Tourism is progressing and within the next three years the sector will be the top foreign exchange earner,” Amaratunga added.

According to Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority data, tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka in November rose by 16% to 167,217 persons, bringing the total for 11 months to 1.82 million, up by 15%.