Sri Lanka’s tourist arrivals rose 18.7 percent in August this year compared to the same period last year,according to the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA). The month recorded 166,610 tourists arriving in the country compared to the 140,319 arrived in August 2014. In the first eight months of this year 1,172,465 tourists visited the island, an increase of 17.1 percent compared to the 1,001,643 recorded for the same period in 2014. Arrivals from North America increased 18.1 percent to 7,044 in August. Arrivals from US were up 23.8 percent to 3,278 while arrivals from Canada increased by 13.5 percent to 3,766 during the month. Tourist arrivals from Western Europe increased 15.8 percent in August with the arrival of 55,868 tourists, compared to the 48,253 tourists arrived in the same month last year. Most of the tourist arrivals from Western Europe were from the UK and Germany. Arrivals from Eastern Europe increased 19.4 percent with the arrival of 8,333 tourists in August 2015 compared to the 6,979 arrived in August 2014. However, tourist arrivals from Eastern Europe declined this year by 7.5 percent due to the economic recession in Russia and the crisis in Ukraine.