Sri Lanka named among world's 10 fastest-improving tourism economies

Dhaka: Sri Lanka has been named one of the 10 fastest-improving economies for travel and tourism development in the World Economic Forum's Travel and Tourism Development Index (TTDI) 2026, released in collaboration with Zurich Insurance Group.

The island nation ranked 10th on the list of top improvers, with its TTDI score rising 4.3% between 2024 and 2026.

Albania led the list with a 7% gain, followed by Vietnam at 6.3%, Laos at 6.1%, Qatar at 6%, Malaysia at 5.8%, and Thailand at 5.6%. The Philippines and Morocco each recorded 5.5%, while Nepal posted 5.1%.

Seven of the 10 fastest-improving economies are from the Asia-Pacific region, which recorded overall growth of 3.6%. The Middle East and North Africa region grew 2.5%, and both regions outpaced the global average.

The report said international tourist arrivals hit a record 1.5 billion worldwide in 2025. The sector contributed a record USD 11.6 trillion to global GDP, more than double its 2019 contribution.

Tourism also supported 366 million jobs globally, roughly one in every 10 jobs worldwide.

Of the 110 economies ranked this year, 92% improved their scores compared with 2024. The average score rose 2.1%, the fastest pace of improvement since 2019.