According to the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority, tourists are spending more time and money in the country than they did five years ago, but only half of them stay at star-rated properties.
200%
Growth in tourism earnings in five years to $3.9 billion in 2017
62%
Increase in tourist arrivals during 2013-17
50%
Share of tourists that stayed in small hotels with no star ratings, homestays and boutique villas in 2016
26%
Increase in the average number of days spent in the island from five years earlier to 11 days in 2017
2%
Improvement in average annual occupancy rates of formal hotels since 2013 to 73.3% in 2017