Sri Lanka’s tourism industry is showing resilience amid the global challenges due to the Middle East crisis, with 20-30% of growth in key Asian markets, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau Chairperson Buddhika Hewawasam said, in the recent April Committee meeting at the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC).
Hewawasam stated: “While tourism is taking a hit from the Middle East crisis, with arrivals down by around 20% in the early 2026 of the country’s tourism numbers, compared to last year, Sri Lanka is not sitting still and that the industry is quickly shifting focus toward Asia Pacific.”
“We have seen a growth of 20-30% in the Indian market and in the Asian Pacific markets, due to a strategic change or rather a more focused marketing strategy towards the Asia Pacific market,” he highlighted.
“Despite the crisis, Sri Lanka has emerged as an alternative destination for tourists in the Asian Pacific region. We are focused in our marketing strategies to promote ourselves in the Asian Pacific, particularly as a destination for general tourists and also for specialised segments like weddings; Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) and we are targeting the large Asian markets such as India, China,” he said at the meeting.
“We recently started our promotional efforts to position Sri Lanka to get into larger segments, which are originally attracted to Dubai investment hubs, to travel to Sri Lanka. Additionally, there is an opportunity to promote ourselves and expand to the Australian and the Pacific markets,” Hewawasam added.
Hewawasam noted, the Middle East crisis has impacted the duration of tourists’ stay in Sri Lanka positively, the European tourists travelling to Sri Lanka stay more nights and the Asian tourists have been more frequently changing the destination routes and times. Hence, we are trying to promote the long-stay tourists, he said, marking Sri Lanka as an option for tourist destinations.
Furthermore, he mentioned: “We are also supporting the industry in various ways. We are planning to provide small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the tourism value chain with some concessions on key areas, to maintain continuous supply of the tourism industry and also to maintain continuous supply of the inputs for the tourism sector, amid the ongoing Middle East crisis tension.”
In collaboration with other government organisations, focusing on tourism as a key priority, “We are identifying and attracting alternative markets to encourage longer tourists stay and engage in more tourism products,” Hewawasam said.
