Sri Lanka aims to increase the average spending by foreign tourists by improving the quality of tourism experiences, Deputy Tourism Minister Ruwan Ranasinghe said.

Speaking at a media briefing, the Deputy Minister said the average tourist visiting Sri Lanka currently spends around US$148 per day, based on available survey data.

He noted that the figure is an estimate, as Sri Lanka does not have advanced systems to accurately track tourist expenditure, such as using credit card and banking data, unlike countries such as Australia.

Ranasinghe said the Government’s target is to increase the average spending per tourist by 2030, as this would generate greater economic benefits for the country.

He stressed that achieving this goal would require improving Sri Lanka’s tourism product and offering higher-quality visitor experiences.

“A tourist spends more when the experience is of higher quality. Increasing spending will not happen automatically. We need proper planning, create more activities for visitors and attract more tourists to achieve our revenue targets,” he said.