Sri Lanka is one of the most popular tropical tourism destinations, due to its' abundance of natural and cultural tourist attractions. During the 30-year civil war between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Sri Lankan armed forces in Northern and Eastern Sri Lanka however, tourism demand declined, but since the end of war in 2009 it has steadily increased. To take advantage of this renewed interest in Sri Lanka as a preferred destination, it is necessary to identify the characteristics of the tourists from countries different to Sri Lanka and the determinants of tourism demand as a preferred destination. In this study, we identify seven major countries from where most of the tourists come to Sri Lanka and model the determinants of tourist numbers from these countries using annual data for the period 1994-2015.