TikaWeeks #03/2025: Sri Lanka update
Posted by John on 18th January 2025
The uplift in tourism to Sri Lanka has enormous financial benefits for the country, with last year’s income from tourism surpassing US$3 billion. This year’s target is US$5 billion from 3 million visitors. India retained its position as Sri Lanka’s largest source market, contributing 416,974 visitors, or 20.3% of total arrivals. Other significant markets included the Russian Federation with 201,920 (9.8%), the UK with 178,339 (8.7%), Germany with 136,084 (6.6%), and China with 131,681 (6.4%).
In a recent Vogue article, Waves to Wildlife, Tea to Tranquility: Sri Lanka’s South Coast Is This Winter’s Hottest Destination, Christine Chitnis showcased the opulent abodes of Resplendent Ceylon, namely recently renovated Cape Weligama, the boutique collection’s clifftop luxury resort, Wild Coast Tented Lodge on the borders of Yala National Park and edging the Indian Ocean, and the original pioneers of the brand, Ceylon Tea Trails, with its historic tea planters’ bungalows and option of spectacular seaplane arrivals.
In her own words, Christine summed up the attraction of Sri Lanka:
“Sri Lanka’s landscapes are vast and varied, welcoming and wild. This island nation of 22 million is a place where leopards slip like a whisper through the undergrowth, blue whales breach offshore, tea estates paint the hill region a lush green, and ancient Buddhist and Hindu temples whisper stories of centuries past. In the coastal towns, surfers line the golden sand beaches and tuk-tuks zip along twisting roads, their horns blending with the rhythmic clink of fishmongers’ knives and the sizzle of hoppers frying in street stalls. Plates heaped with rice and aromatic curries showcase the island’s culinary riches, while orange king coconuts are cracked open and offered as a sweet, refreshing balm to the humid heat.”
A recent feature run by BBC Travel (16 January 2025) listed Sri Lanka in the top 25 best places to travel in 2025. And no wonder: “From its misty hilltop tea plantations and roaming wild elephants to its ancient temples and rolling surf, Sri Lanka is a country that ticks lots of boxes.”
New and exciting projects – as well as ones not to our taste like the US$1-billion megaresort opening in Colombo! – are springing up all over the island. The Knuckles Mountain Range area around Kandy now boasts Sri Lanka’s first 7-star hotel, Aviyana Private Chalets, while Aarunya Nature Resort, also near Kandy, has a new family villa that includes an oculus for stargazing. The launch of Sri Lanka's new airline Air Ceilão, which will fly as far as Europe and Australia, heralds a massive change in confidence in the island’s burgeoning tourism industry and the country’s fiscal wellbeing in general. The nation also recently launched the Good Travel Seal initiative, which celebrates local businesses who have adopted sustainable practices.
Categories: Accommodation, Flights, Honeymoon, News, Sri Lanka, Sustainability
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