Sri Lanka expects 7 lakh Indian tourists by 2016

Sri Lanka Tourism is expecting 700,000 Indians to visit the island country by the year 2016.

With the end of conflict involving the 26-year old civil war with Tamil Tigers, the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) expects to meet a target of 2.5 million tourists and a revenue of $2 billion by 2016. After textile and remittance from abroad, the country expects tourism to be the third largest source of foreign exchange in the coming years,.

Moreover, SLTPB has planned various promotional activities in line with its declaration of 2011 as 'Visit Sri Lanka Year.' "Following the defeat of Tamil Tiger rebels in May, the tourist arrivals have been rising by 8 per cent in June to 28 per cent in July. We are expecting more number of tourists to come from India and the world. While we expect 1.2 million tourists from Europe, we have a target of 700,000 Indian tourist arrivals by 2016. There are various tourist attractions, mainly beaches, spread over 56,000 sq kms in Sri Lanka. Also, with the opening of the east and northern areas of the country, tourists can enjoy visits to places like Trincomalee, Arugam and the historic Shiva temple," said S Kalaiselvam, director general, Sri Lanka Tourism, on the sidelines of a press conference to accelerate on marketing Sri Lanka as a tourism destination to Indian tourists.

 

SLTPB is conducting a three-city road show in Ahmedabad, Bangalore and New Delhi to attract and generate more tourists to the island.

The Cochin-Colombo ferry service will only add to the tourist arrivals of the country, Kalaiselvam said.

Currently, 20 per cent (100,000) tourists to Sri Lanka are from India. Sri Lanka gets total tourist arrivals of half a million tourists from around the world, generating the country's tourism revenue of USD $450 million.