COLOMBO, Sept. 6 (Xinhua) -- Over 1.5 million tourists have arrived in Sri Lanka between January to August, recording a 4.9 percent growth when compared to the same period last year, statistics from the Tourism Ministry showed here on Thursday.

India, China and Britain were the leading three markets, followed by France and Germany.

The ministry said out of the total number, 190,312 arrivals were from China while in August alone 26,558 Chinese tourists visited the country.

In total, 200,359 tourists arrived in Sri Lanka last month which was a 4.9 percent growth when compared to August 2017.

Tourism Minister, John Amaratunga said last month that tourist arrivals from China was likely to see a significant growth following steps taken to promote Sri Lanka as a holiday destination in Chinese provinces.

Amaratunga said he had held discussions with the provincial tourism authorities in China, who had assured him that every effort will be made to increase visitor arrivals to Sri Lanka.