Hong Kong (CNN Business) A series of deadly attacks could deal a body blow to one of Asia's fragile economies.

Four days after the coordinated attacks, the Sri Lankan Health Ministry revised the death toll, saying 253 people had died. That toll is significantly lower than the 359 initially reported to CNN by a Colombo police spokesman this week.

At least 39 of those killed in the explosions were identified as tourists from countries including the United Kingdom, Denmark, Australia and India.

On top of the heavy loss of human life, the attacks could cause serious damage to Sri Lanka's economy, which depends on tourism.

Photos: In pictures: Sri Lanka on alert as mourners bury blast victims Photos: In pictures: Sri Lanka on alert as mourners bury blast victims A priest conducts a burial ceremony for victims of the Easter Sunday bombings in Negombo, Sri Lanka, on Wednesday, April 24. Hide Caption 1 of 39 Photos: In pictures: Sri Lanka on alert as mourners bury blast victims A woman who lost her husband and two children during the bombing at St. Sebastian's Church in Negombo yells toward the grave site during a mass burial on Wednesday. Hide Caption 2 of 39 Photos: In pictures: Sri Lanka on alert as mourners bury blast victims Military personnel talk with a police officer near the site where a package, believed to be a bomb, was detonated in a controlled explosion after being discovered in a nearby restaurant in Negombo on Wednesday, April 24. Hide Caption 3 of 39 Photos: In pictures: Sri Lanka on alert as mourners bury blast victims Members of a security task force search for explosives ahead of victims' mass burials in Negombo on Wednesday. Hide Caption 4 of 39 Photos: In pictures: Sri Lanka on alert as mourners bury blast victims On Tuesday, April 23, Harshani Sriyani weeps over the body of her daughter who was killed in the Easter Sunday bombings in Colombo. Hide Caption 5 of 39 Photos: In pictures: Sri Lanka on alert as mourners bury blast victims Funeral ribbons hang across a road leading to St. Anthony's Shrine on April 23. Hide Caption 6 of 39 Photos: In pictures: Sri Lanka on alert as mourners bury blast victims A man is supported as he follows a coffin during a mass funeral for bombing victims at St. Sebastian Church in Negombo, Sri Lanka, on Tuesday, April 23. Hide Caption 7 of 39 Photos: In pictures: Sri Lanka on alert as mourners bury blast victims A soldier stands guard next to members of the clergy during a mass funeral in Negombo on Tuesday. Hide Caption 8 of 39 Photos: In pictures: Sri Lanka on alert as mourners bury blast victims Coffins are carried to a grave during the mass funeral at St. Sebastian Church on April 23. Hide Caption 9 of 39 Photos: In pictures: Sri Lanka on alert as mourners bury blast victims A woman carrying an infant runs for safety after police found a suspicious vehicle parked in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on Monday, April 22, a day after several coordinated bombings across the country killed hundreds. Hide Caption 10 of 39 Photos: In pictures: Sri Lanka on alert as mourners bury blast victims Sri Lankan security forces stand at the site near St. Anthony's shrine in Colombo after they performed a controlled detonation of a suspicious van on Monday. Hide Caption 11 of 39 Photos: In pictures: Sri Lanka on alert as mourners bury blast victims Smoke rises from the area where a van exploded on Monday near St. Anthony's shrine in Colombo. Hide Caption 12 of 39 Photos: In pictures: Sri Lanka on alert as mourners bury blast victims Security personnel stand guard outside St. Anthony's Shrine on Monday, a day after the church was hit in a series of bomb blasts targeting churches and luxury hotels in Sri Lanka. Hide Caption 13 of 39 Photos: In pictures: Sri Lanka on alert as mourners bury blast victims Relatives weep near the coffin of 12-year-old victim Sneha Savindi, who was killed in the Easter Sunday bombing at St. Sebastian's Church in Negombo, Sri Lanka. Hide Caption 14 of 39 Photos: In pictures: Sri Lanka on alert as mourners bury blast victims Police and forensics officials inspect the interior of St. Sebastian's Church in Negombo on Monday. Hide Caption 15 of 39 Photos: In pictures: Sri Lanka on alert as mourners bury blast victims Shoes and belongings of victims are collected as evidence at St. Sebastian's Church in Negombo on April 22. Hide Caption 16 of 39 Photos: In pictures: Sri Lanka on alert as mourners bury blast victims A man mourns after viewing the body of a dead relative killed in the bomb explosion at St. Anthony's Church in Colombo on Sunday, April 21. Hide Caption 17 of 39 Photos: In pictures: Sri Lanka on alert as mourners bury blast victims Blood stains are seen on a statue of Jesus Christ after a bomb blast inside a church in Negombo, on Sunday. Hide Caption 18 of 39 Photos: In pictures: Sri Lanka on alert as mourners bury blast victims A woman is in tears after a deadly bomb blast at St. Anthony's Shrine in Sri Lanka's capital, Colombo, on Sunday. Hide Caption 19 of 39 Photos: In pictures: Sri Lanka on alert as mourners bury blast victims Security personnel and investigators sift through debris outside Zion Church in Batticaloa. Hide Caption 20 of 39 Photos: In pictures: Sri Lanka on alert as mourners bury blast victims A man holds up a blood-stained photograph as people wait to identify the bodies of their loved ones in front of St. Anthony's Church. Hide Caption 21 of 39 Photos: In pictures: Sri Lanka on alert as mourners bury blast victims Relatives of a victim of the attacks react at the police mortuary in Colombo. Hide Caption 22 of 39 Photos: In pictures: Sri Lanka on alert as mourners bury blast victims Sri Lankan hospital workers and soldiers stand at the door to a morgue following a blast in a church in Batticaloa. Hide Caption 23 of 39 Photos: In pictures: Sri Lanka on alert as mourners bury blast victims A Sri Lankan Air Force helicopter flies over a house suspected to be a hideout of militants following a shootout in Colombo. Hide Caption 24 of 39 Photos: In pictures: Sri Lanka on alert as mourners bury blast victims A view of damage near the Dehiwala zoo in Colombo. Hide Caption 25 of 39 Photos: In pictures: Sri Lanka on alert as mourners bury blast victims Relatives of bombing victims gather at a mortuary in Colombo. Hide Caption 26 of 39 Photos: In pictures: Sri Lanka on alert as mourners bury blast victims Colombo's Kingsbury Hotel was targeted by a blast. Hide Caption 27 of 39 Photos: In pictures: Sri Lanka on alert as mourners bury blast victims Relatives of a blast victim grieve outside a morgue in Colombo. Hide Caption 28 of 39 Photos: In pictures: Sri Lanka on alert as mourners bury blast victims Sri Lankan Special Task Force personnel gesture outside a house during a raid following an explosion at a property in the Orugodawatta district of Colombo. Hide Caption 29 of 39 Photos: In pictures: Sri Lanka on alert as mourners bury blast victims The interior of St. Sebastian's Church in Negombo, north of Colombo, shows damage from a bomb blast. Hide Caption 30 of 39 Photos: In pictures: Sri Lanka on alert as mourners bury blast victims Sri Lankan military members stand guard outside St. Anthony's Church following an explosion. Hide Caption 31 of 39 Photos: In pictures: Sri Lanka on alert as mourners bury blast victims Crime scene investigators inspect the scene of an explosion at the Shangri-La hotel in Colombo. Hide Caption 32 of 39 Photos: In pictures: Sri Lanka on alert as mourners bury blast victims Sri Lankan police officers clear the road as an ambulance drives through carrying injured from bomb blasts in Colombo. Hide Caption 33 of 39 Photos: In pictures: Sri Lanka on alert as mourners bury blast victims A bombing victim's relative weeps outside a hospital in Batticaloa, eastern Sri Lanka. Hide Caption 34 of 39 Photos: In pictures: Sri Lanka on alert as mourners bury blast victims Priests view blast debris outside St. Anthony's Shrine. Hide Caption 35 of 39 Photos: In pictures: Sri Lanka on alert as mourners bury blast victims Sri Lankan security personnel keep watch outside St. Anthony's Shrine. Hide Caption 36 of 39 Photos: In pictures: Sri Lanka on alert as mourners bury blast victims Security forces inspect the inside of St. Anthony's Shrine after Sunday's attack. Hide Caption 37 of 39 Photos: In pictures: Sri Lanka on alert as mourners bury blast victims Sri Lankan military officers stand guard in front of St. Anthony's Shrine. Hide Caption 38 of 39 Photos: In pictures: Sri Lanka on alert as mourners bury blast victims A relative of a victim of an explosion at St. Anthony's Shrine reacts outside the police mortuary in Colombo. Hide Caption 39 of 39

The island nation in the Indian ocean welcomes about 2.5 million visitors a year from around the world. Data from the World Travel and Tourism Council show that the industry is one of the biggest contributors to the country's economy, supporting about 1 million jobs. It is also the third largest source of foreign currencies, according to research firm Capital Economics.

Tourism's importance has grown rapidly in the last 10 years, after the Sri Lankan government defeated the rebel Tamil Tigers organization to end nearly three decades of civil war.

"Tourism has been a big success story for Sri Lanka over the last decade," said Alex Holmes, Asia economist at Capital Economics.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attacks and the police investigation is ongoing. But international tourists are now likely to stay away.

The Sri Lankan government has declared a state of emergency starting midnight Monday. The US State Department has urged travelers to exercise increased caution , warning that "terrorist groups continue plotting possible attacks."

"The violence is likely to hit the tourism industry hard, at least in the short term," Holmes added.

The Kingsbury Hotel in Colombo, Sri Lanka, pictured in 2015, was one of the hotels targeted in the attack.

Airline passengers cancel bookings

One business feeling the impact immediately is Sri Lankan Airlines, the national carrier. CEO Vipula Gunatilleka told CNN Business that hundreds of passengers have canceled bookings since Sunday's attacks. The airline is allowing passengers to delay or change flights without paying a fee.

"Since the hotels were attacked and all that, you'd expect more and more [cancellations], especially the foreign bookings and all of that to come down," he said. "That's the reality."

Gunatilleka, whose airline carries about one-third of people flying into Sri Lanka, said it was too early to speculate on how long the damage to tourism will last. "We are looking at [the] immediate impact and how to handle that," he added.

India is one of the biggest sources of foreign visitors. One tour group said it had not yet seen any cancellations.

"At the current time we are yet to receive any cancellation requests and it is early days yet to assess impact to the destination," Mahesh Iyer, executive director of Thomas Cook India, said in a statement.

One business feeling the impact of the attack is Sri Lankan Airlines, the national carrier.

Investors could lose confidence

The US dollars, Chinese yuan and other currencies tourists spend in Sri Lanka are vital to the economy.

debt. The debt owed by the Sri Lankan government amounts to about 80% of the country's annual economic output, statistics Sri Lanka needs a constant flow of currency to keep up payments on its foreigndebt. The debt owed by the Sri Lankan government amounts to about 80% of the country's annual economic output, statistics show , and it is rising.

Much of this debt is owed to countries in currencies other than the Sri Lankan rupee, analysts point out. In 2018, Moody's and Fitch both downgraded the Sri Lankan government's credit rating, citing questions over its ability to repay its debts.

Like other emerging markets, Sri Lanka has also seen foreign investors yank funds out of the country amid sustained US dollar strength.

If investors lose confidence in Sri Lanka's capability to repay its debts, that could prompt the nation's currency to weaken further. "This will further weigh on the economy," Capital Economics' Holmes said.

This story has been updated to reflect that the death toll has been revised by the Sri Lankan Health Ministry.