The present government aims to attract four million tourists annually and generate US$8 billion in tourism revenue by 2030, Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya has said.

The Prime Minister made the remarks while attending the 2026 World Tourism Day celebrations held today (27) at the Western Province Council Auditorium under the theme “Digital Agenda and Artificial Intelligence to Redesign Tourism.”

Prime Minister Amarasuriya said Sri Lanka welcomed around 2.5 million tourists in 2024, generating approximately US$3.1 billion in tourism revenue. In 2025, tourist arrivals reached 2,362,521, generating around US$3.2 billion in foreign exchange earnings.

She said the present government had allocated Rs. 6 billion in the 2026 Budget for international digital promotional campaigns and other tourism promotion initiatives.

A further Rs. 3.5 billion has been allocated for environmentally friendly and cultural heritage projects, while Rs. 1 billion has been allocated for airport modernisation and Rs. 500 million for human resource development, she said.

Prime Minister Amarasuriya also called on schoolchildren to consider tourism as a potential career path, highlighting plans to promote awareness through school-level tourism clubs and upcoming education reforms.

She stressed that developing the tourism sector would require investment in human resources as well as greater use of modern technology.

The Prime Minister said tourism development should go beyond increasing visitor numbers and be linked to the country’s broader development goals. She also emphasised the need for an equitable and environmentally sustainable tourism industry that protects Sri Lanka’s natural resources.

The World Tourism Day programme was organised jointly by several institutions, including the Western Province Tourism Board, the Postgraduate Institute of Archaeology (PGIAR) and the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA), with the aim of accelerating the digital transformation of Sri Lanka’s tourism sector.