{"id":777030856,"date":"2025-08-27T08:13:30","date_gmt":"2025-08-27T11:13:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777030856"},"modified":"2026-04-21T19:46:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T22:46:20","slug":"sri-lanka-hopes-casinos-can-help-boost-tourism-revenue-to-10-of-gdp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/sri-lanka-hopes-casinos-can-help-boost-tourism-revenue-to-10-of-gdp","title":{"rendered":"Sri Lanka hopes casinos can help boost tourism revenue to 10% of GDP"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The government expects a revenue boost from the regulation of casino gambling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka.- The government of Sri Lanka is hoping that cainos will help it meet a target for tourism to contribute 10 per cent of GDP in the coming years. Tourism currently accounts for approximately 4 per cent of GDP, but the government expects this to more than double as it aims to increase tourist arrivals to 3 million this year, potentially lifting revenues to US$5bn from US$3.7bn in 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who will complete one year in office next month, has made high-end gaming a central focus to attract affluent visitors from India and China. The US$1.2bn City of Dreams Colombo opened this month, and a new regulatory framework<\/a> has been approved to formalise and expand the gaming sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deputy tourism minister Ruwan Ranasinghe said the short-term focus is on boosting arrivals quickly, but the long-term vision is for \u201cquality, more sustainable, and high-end tourism, with casinos and gambling as part of that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

India and China are expected to remain the biggest sources of visitors. Indians accounted for nearly a quarter of arrivals last year, while Chinese visitors represented 7 per cent. With casinos banned or limited to specific regions in both countries, Sri Lanka is aiming to capture a share of outbound demand<\/a>, supported by visa-free entry for both nationalities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Gambling Regulatory Authority Bill raises taxes on gross gaming revenue from from 15 to 18 per cent, and a US$100 entry fee has been introduced for Sri Lankan residents. The government says these steps will balance growth with social responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

City of Dreams<\/a> is the largest private investment in Sri Lanka to date. Located on Colombo\u2019s beachfront, it has 800 rooms, a luxury mall, and conference facilities. Melco Resorts Chairman Lawrence Ho described Sri Lanka as a \u201ctotal greenfield market,\u201d drawing parallels with how the company grew in Manila, Macau, and Cyprus. <\/p>\n\n\n

\n\t\t\tSee also:<\/span><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tSee also:<\/span> City of Dreams Sri Lanka opens<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The government expects a revenue boost from the regulation of casino gambling.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":680,"featured_media":777028413,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"Sri Lanka is formalizing and expanding its casino gambling sector with a new regulatory framework, aiming to significantly boost tourism's contribution to GDP. The recently opened US$1.2bn City of Dreams Colombo, backed by Melco Resorts, is central to attracting high-end visitors from key markets like India and China. The new Gambling Regulatory Authority Bill increases GGR tax to 18% and introduces a US$100 entry fee for residents, balancing economic growth with social responsibility.","focusai_entities":"Anura Kumara Dissanayake, Ruwan Ranasinghe, Lawrence Ho, Melco Resorts, City of Dreams Colombo","focusai_location":"Sri Lanka, Colombo, India, China, Manila, Macau, Cyprus","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (1.0), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (0.9), operator_casino (1.0), investor_analyst (1.0), supplier_vendor (0.8), journalist_researcher (1.0)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Sri Lanka GGR Impact?","query":"What is the projected incremental GGR for Sri Lanka's regulated casino sector, considering the new 18% tax rate and US$100 resident entry fee, and how does this compare to initial government revenue forecasts?"},{"label":"Melco Resorts Strategy?","query":"Given Melco Resorts' Chairman Lawrence Ho's 'greenfield market' assessment, what specific B2C licensing and operational strategies will Melco employ in Sri Lanka to replicate success seen in Macau or Manila, particularly regarding high-roller acquisition from India and China?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,24628,158,16334],"tags":[12436,24611,24799,24680],"class_list":["post-777030856","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-casino-news","category-highlight-of-the-week","category-slider-home","category-south-asia-news","tag-casinos","tag-city-of-dreams-sri-lanka","tag-sri-lanka","tag-tourism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777030856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/680"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777030856"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777030856\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777030870,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777030856\/revisions\/777030870"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/777028413"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777030856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777030856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777030856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}