Sri Lanka tourist arrivals fall for fifth month in August after bombings

COLOMBO (Reuters) - Tourist arrivals in Sri Lanka slipped 28.1% in August from a year ago, falling for the fifth straight month, as foreign visitors shunned the Indian Ocean island after the Easter Sunday attacks, data from the tourism bureau showed on Thursday.

Arrivals in August fell 28.3% to 143,587, compared with 200,359 a year earlier. They, however, rose compared to the previous three months.

Since the Easter Sunday attacks, the number of foreign visitors has fallen to the lowest level since the end of the civil war a decade ago.

Arrivals in the four months from May to August fell 48.1% to 360,162, versus 694,482 a year ago.

(Reporting by Shihar Aneez; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)