COLOMBO, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka received 707,924 tourists during the first three months of this year, and it was an increase of 17.1 percent compared with the corresponding period of last year, a minister here said on Monday.

Tourism Development Minister John Amaratunga told Xinhua that the country could have attracted more tourists in March this year if not for the outbreak of communal violence in the central hills and the subsequent declaration of the state of emergency.

Quoting the latest statistics released by the Sri Lankan Tourism Development Authority, he said the country received 233,382 tourist arrivals in March.

"It is a drop against 235,618 tourists we received in February. Despite the slight decline, we can sustain the growth momentum for the future as the country is now normal," he said.

China, India, Germany, France and the United Kingdom are the biggest tourist markets for Sri Lanka.