July 13, 2012
Sri Lanka's tourist arrivals in June jumped 21.6 percent from a year earlier, government data showed on Friday.
The number of visitors has risen year-on-year in the past 38 months since a 25-year civil war ended in May 2009.
The tourism board expects over one million tourists in 2012, yielding revenue of more than USD$1 billion, 20 percent higher than last year's record USD$830.3 million.
Revenue from tourism rose 26 percent to USD$399.3 million in the first five months of 2012 from the same period last year.
Tourism is one of the main foreign exchange earners for Sri Lanka's USD$59 billion economy, along with remittances from expatriate workers, garments and tea.
