A publication on Sri Lanka's tourism economy, and the people and places it depends on.
01
What April 2026 reveals about Sri Lanka's visitor mix
The drop wasn't spread evenly. India and China grew. The European markets that fly via Gulf hubs took the hit.
Read the dispatch−22%
April arrivals against the same month last year.
02
All Roads to Tourism: reading the CBSL 2025 review
Thirty-one macroeconomic indicators, across eight clusters, mapped to what they do to the country's visitors.
Read the essayRecord arrivals.
Diminished returns.
03
Sri Lanka Tourism Dashboard
A multi-year view of Sri Lanka tourism through 2025, drawn from the SLTDA Year-in-Review series.
Open the dashboardArrivals returning above their pre-pandemic peak.
04
Horton Plains: a shuttle proposal
A daily, year-round shuttle from Nuwara Eliya designed to cut emissions inside a fragile cloud forest, turn dead transit into a guided experience, and invest in surrounding communities. With Sanda Wijeratne.
Read the paper10%
Occupancy at which the proposed shuttle breaks even.
More projects in progress.
A note on intent
Sarendia is a personal project — independent and non-commercial. No clients, no commissions, no sponsorships, no ads, no paywalls. The work here is free to read, share, and quote, and is published for whoever finds it useful.
About
Dilanke works in Sri Lanka's travel industry and writes about it. Sarendia is the home for his independent projects on the country's tourism data, its policy backdrop, and the places visitors come to see.
A few projects are written with expert collaborators, credited individually. Most are written alone. Every piece is checked carefully against its sources before it goes up. The work is meant to be useful, not only correct. Nothing here is perfect; corrections sent to the email below are read and acted on.