COLOMBO, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka's tourism industry is aiming to earn 5 billion U.S. dollars in 2019 as the industry gears to attract over 3 million tourists this year, the Sri Lanka's Tourism Development Authority said in a statement Monday.

In 2018, Sri Lanka earned 4.4 billion U.S. dollars from tourism with steadily increased revenue of 11.6 percent compared to 2017.

The recent data by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority said that an average duration of stay per person in the island country was 11 days while an average daily expenditure was 174 U.S. dollars.

In 2019, the tourism industry expects the arrival of 3 million tourists and revenue of 5 billion U.S dollars with the Lonely Planet Magazine naming Sri Lanka as the number one destination to travel in 2019.

India, China and Britain remained the leading markets for Sri Lanka tourism in 2018.