Sri Lanka, Oct. 5 -- Sri Lanka welcomed 158,557 tourists in September, falling just 414 short of the 158,971 arrivals recorded in the same month last year, after a slim lead built over the first 27 days was erased in the final three days of the month, the latest Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) data showed.

Arrivals for the first 27 days stood at 143,623, which was 538 ahead of the same period last year. However, the island attracted only 14,934 holidaymakers in the last three days, when compared to 15,886 a year ago, turning the month into a marginal 0.26 percent decline.

September thus became the fourth consecutive month of year-on-year (YoY) contraction, although the smallest of the four, following declines of 9.9 per...