Tourism Focus Shifts to Regional Investment & BIA Upgrade 🏨

• Hotel operators have been strongly urged by Minister Herath to accelerate accommodation development outside the Western Province to address the severe distribution imbalance (11,000 rooms currently concentrated in WP). • Regional Facilitation: • Budget 2026 allocated substantial funds for improving national infrastructure (highways, domestic airports) to back regional tourism growth. • SLTDA has released land plots in key areas like Kuchchaveli, Trincomalee, Bentota, Kalpitiya, and Sigiriya for new proposals. • Capacity & Arrivals: • Sri Lanka currently holds 59,000 hotel rooms, with an additional 3,000 rooms (including 1,300 five-star) expected by end-2025. • Minister confidently projects the highest-ever tourist arrivals of 2.4 million by the end of this year. • Top Source Markets YTD: India, UK, Germany, and China, with high-spending European visitors making up six of the top ten countries. Note: Revenue growth did not proportionally match arrival volume due to exchange rate and inflation effects. • Infrastructure & Branding: • BIA Expansion Phase II: JICA has assured that work will commence by end-March 2026. • Private sector was commended for funding a temporary solution to prevent flight cancellations during the peak season. • Nation branding campaign rollout is targeted for the end of Q1 2026.