The number of visitors from Western Europe rose 18.0 percent (15,212) with tourists from France up 43 percent (1,424), the UK up 11.7 percent (6,336) and Germany up 17.5 percent (3,433).

South Asian arrivals continued to grow in double digits, up by 23.3 percent (1337). India generated 8,769 visitors, an increase of 14.7 percent, and Pakistan 681, a 29.0 percent increase.

The number of visitors from the Middle-East shot up 200.3 percent to 2,886.

Arrivals from East Asia increased 19.4 percent (4,699), with Malaysian arrivals more than doubling to 1,134, and those from Singapore up by more than half to 788.

Cumulative arrivals, which had fallen steadily till May, were up 0.4 percent to 391,028 in the January to November period.

Tourist arrivals in the country increased sharply from May after defeating terrorism, ending Sri Lanka's 30-year war.