Sri Lanka's tourist arrivals grow 15.3 pct up to June

COLOMBO, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka has recorded a growth of 15.3 percent in tourist arrivals during the first half of 2018 compared to the same period last year, statistics from the Tourism Ministry showed here Wednesday. 

From January to June, 1,164,647 tourists arrived in Sri Lanka compared to the 1,010,444 tourists who visited the country during the same period last year. 

In June, 146,828 tourists arrived in the island country, 19 percent increase from the arrivals recorded in June 2017. 

India remained the largest market for Sri Lanka in June, followed by China and Britain.

Tourism Minister John Amaratunga told Xinhua that tourism was one of the highest growing sectors in the island. 

"We can reach our target this year. We need to expand the capacity of our airports. Currently, 98 percent of tourists arrive by air," he said. 

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