According to data from the tourist promotion office, Sri Lanka’s tourist arrivals reached 154,609 by December 21, 2025, an increase from 150,563 in the previous year, despite experiencing a slowdown in the first two weeks following Cyclone Ditwah.
Asoka Hettigoda, Chief of the Sri Lanka Tourist Hotels Association, informed that coastal resorts were mostly fully booked prior to Christmas. Additionally, he mentioned that the hill country was also witnessing an increase in tourist numbers and was returning to normal conditions.
Throughout 2025, Sri Lanka has been receiving approximately 10 to 15 percent more tourists each month compared to 2024, the year Cyclone Ditwah struck.
The International Monetary Fund has estimated that the net output loss from Cyclone Ditwah could be around 0.2 percent of the gross domestic product. Furthermore, a World Bank study has estimated that the cyclone caused the destruction of government and private assets worth approximately 4.1 billion US dollars.
(Colombo/Dec26/2025)
