COLOMBO -- In 2019, the Lonely Planet travel guide listed Sri Lanka as the world's best destination. Since then, the island's flourishing tourism industry has been hit by a deadly terrorist attack, the COVID-19 pandemic, political turmoil and the worst economic crisis since independence in 1948.
After a tumultuous year, however, the island is back on the tourism radar, receiving 800,000 visitor arrivals in the seven months to early August, largely thanks to its laid-back coastal towns with world-class beaches and surfing.
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