Tourist arrivals for the first five months last year amounted to 157,000, whereas the tourist arrivals during the first five months this year was 233,000, thus showing an increase of 48.5% compared to the same period last year.

The tourists arrived in Sri Lanka during the last five months showed a 101% increase from the Middle East countries, 40% increase from the East European countries, 77% increase from France, 74% increase from Germany and 79% increase from India.

Tourist arrivals in Sri Lanka last year amounted to 450,000 tourists and the Government targets to increase this number to 600,000 by end of this year.

Media personnel from National Geographic Channel and leading publications such as New York Times visited Sri Lanka and made first hand investigations on the tourist facilities and scenic, cultural, historical locations, and food varieties attractive to tourists in Sri Lanka.

Following such visits the National Geographic Channel named Sri Lanka as the 2nd most attractive place to visit while the New York Times named Sri Lanka as the best among the 32 most attractive tourist locations in the world.