A cruise ship arrives in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on Dec. 23, 2022.(Photo by Ajith Perera/Xinhua)
COLOMBO, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka has seen an increase from tourism earnings with around 530 million U.S. dollars being received in the first three months of 2023, according to the latest data from the country's central bank.
Sri Lanka earned 198.1 million dollars in March, bringing tourism earnings in the first quarter to 529.8 million dollars, the data showed.
In the first three months of 2022, Sri Lanka earned 482.3 million dollars from tourism.
A tourism official said earlier this month that Sri Lanka's tourism industry is aiming to attract 2 million visitors in 2023, compared to the previous target of 1.5 million.
Tourism, one of Sri Lanka's leading foreign exchange earners, suffered a setback due to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as economic and political crises in the country.■