The one millionth tourist to Sri Lanka this year is expected to arrive in a day or two and all preparations have been made to welcome him or her, said Sri Lanka Inbound Tour Operators’ Association president Mahendra Kariyawasam.

Last year, Sri Lanka reached its one million tourist mark by end in November 2013. However, this year the mark could be reached by end August or early September, added Kariyawasam.

Overall, the number of tourist arrivals into Sri Lanka increased by 24.7 percent to 861,32 tourists and netted a revenue of USD 1,244.4 million which is a 33.9 percent increase.

Last year Sri Lankan earned a revenue of USD 1.5 billion from the tourism industry and this year plans are afoot to increase this revenue to USD 1.8 billion.

It is expected to attract 2.5 million tourists into Sri Lanka in 2016.