Tag: sri lanka tourism

Sri Lanka’s Tourism Ministry said that it has kept its new visa-on-arrival programme on hold until further notice due to the security situation in the island nation following the Easter Sunday bombings. The programme was expected to be implemented from May 1 for tourists from over 30 countries, The visas on arrival pilot programme was part of a larger initiative to increase tourist arrivals to the country during the six-month off-season period from May to October. “Investigations have revealed foreign links to the attacks and we do not want this facility to be abused,” Minister of Tourism, Wildlife and Christian Religious ... Read more

The Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) tourism market in Sri Lanka  is expected to reach US$ 285 million by 2025, according to a report released recently. According to the Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2019 – 2025 report released by the Wise Guy Consultants, Sri Lanka is emerging as the fastest growing MICE tourism market. India, Maldives and China are the largest source markets for Sri Lanka MICE Industry. The report, “Sri Lanka MICE Tourism Market: Current Trends, Opportunity, Growth Potential and Forecast to 2025” offers the most up-to-date industry data on the actual market situation and ... Read more

Tourist arrivals in Sri Lanka posts a 7 per cent growth in February 2019, with over 250,000 tourists arriving in the destination. The top five international tourist-generating markets are India, Britain, China, France and Germany. Russia and the United States also recorded a significant growth in the last month. About 28,039 out of 252,033 tourists arrivals were from China in February, informed the Tourism ministry of Sri Lanka. In the first two months of 2019, Sri Lanka welcomed over 490,000 tourists. the ministry aims to attract at least 300,000 Chinese tourists this year, with ongoing publicity campaigns in several cities across China. “It is ... Read more

Tourists thronging to the town of Habaraduwa, in Sri Lanka were welcomed by a signage which warns them not to wear improper swimwear to the beach. The signage, erected by the police, is all set t o be removed by the tourism department. Police has recently erected signs warning tourists against wearing “improper” swimwear to the beach — but the country’s tourism department is taking them down. The Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority said that the signs, which depicted two women wearing bikinis, along with a large red ‘X’ over their photos, were placed at the popular resort destination of Habaraduwa ... Read more

Realising the potential of adventure tourism, Sri Lanka has launched a programme to assist the tourism industry to standardize and develop adventure tourism and training in the country. Sri Lanka Tourism Development and Christian Affairs Minister John Amaratunga launched “The Adventure Tourism Curricula,” under the initiative, at a ceremony held on 29th August 2018 at the Temple Trees. Sujith Sanjaya Perera, member of Parliament, Officers of Policy Development Office (PDO),Officers of the Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism & Hotel Management (SLITHM) and Industry stakeholders participated in the event. The Ministry of National Policies and Economic Affairs and the Policy Development Office (PDO) ... Read more

Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) and Airbnb announced a strategic partnership to launch Airbnb Experiences in Sri Lanka and drive local, authentic and sustainable tourism across the country. Through this Asia-first partnership, Airbnb and SLTDA will work together to onboard local experience hosts onto the Airbnb platform and help local people from across Sri Lanka share their passions and interests with travelers from around the world. Travelers can now choose from more than 40 Airbnb Experiences in Sri Lanka designed and led by local experts. “We’re delighted to sign this partnership with the Sri Lankan Tourism Ministry – the ... Read more

Major tourist friendly nations, including India will soon visit Sri Lanka visa-free. Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has appointed a task force to study the possibility of granting visa-free entry to visitors from tourist friendly nations in order to boost arrivals. “Some of the countries under consideration are India, China along with some other European and West Asian nations,” said Tourism Minister John Amaratunga. The new move is aimed at encouraging more people to visit Sri Lanka and avoid “chaos” at the immigration, the minister added. Once the task force give the recommendations, the visa-free entry will be implemented in ... Read more

Colombo, Sri Lanka Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said his government is considering easing the air traffic system including visas for tourists to enhance the island’s tourism industry. Speaking at the Hotel Show Colombo 2018 in the capital of Colombo on 21st July, Wickremesinghe said that easing visa regulations would be a brave step for the swiftly developing tourism industry in the country. He reiterated the importance of increasing the number of tourists visiting the country, as tourism becoming one of the major contributors of revenue for the island country. Tourism will be the future of Sri Lanka, in ... Read more

Sri Lanka has recorded a growth of 15.3 per cent in tourist arrivals during the first half of 2018 compared to the same period last year. According to the statistics from the Tourism Ministry, 1,164,647 tourists arrived in Sri Lanka between January and June. 1,010,444 tourists visited the country during the same period previous year. In June, 146,828 tourists arrived in the island country, registering 19 per cent increase from the arrivals recorded in June 2017. India remains the largest market for Sri Lanka in June, followed by China and Britain. Visitors from India grew 18.4 per cent to 32,971, and arrivals from ... Read more

2018 പകുതിയിലേക്ക് കടക്കുമ്പോൾ ശ്രീലങ്കയിൽ ആദ്യ അഞ്ചുമാസം എത്തിയത് പത്തു ലക്ഷത്തിലേറെ വിദേശ സഞ്ചാരികൾ. ജനുവരി മുതൽ മെയ് വരെ ശ്രീലങ്കയിൽ എത്തിയത് 10,17,819 പേർ . പോയ വർഷത്തേക്കാൾ 14 .7 ശതമാനത്തിന്റെ വർധനയെന്നു ശ്രീലങ്ക ടൂറിസം പ്രൊമോഷൻ അതോറിറ്റി അറിയിച്ചു. കഴിഞ്ഞ മേയിൽ ശ്രീലങ്കയിൽ എത്തിയ വിദേശ സഞ്ചാരികളുടെ എണ്ണം 1,21,891 വിദേശ സഞ്ചാരികളാണ് വന്നതെങ്കിൽ ഇക്കൊല്ലം അത് 1,29,466 ആയുയർന്നു. 6.2 ശതമാനത്തിന്റെ വർധന. മെയ് മാസം മാത്രം ശ്രീലങ്കയിൽ എത്തിയ ഇന്ത്യൻ സഞ്ചാരികളുടെ എണ്ണം 42,073 ആണ്. കഴിഞ്ഞ മേയിൽ ഇത് 34,167 ആയിരുന്നു.ഇതടക്കം ആദ്യ അഞ്ചു മാസം ശ്രീലങ്കയിൽ എത്തിയ ഇന്ത്യക്കാരുടെ എണ്ണം 1,73,366 ആണ്.

Sri Lanka is trying to woo more Chinese tourists to the island nation. As part of its marketing efforts, the Minister of Tourism Development John Amaratunga has held talks with Chinese tourism and airline officials to encourage more visitors to Sri Lanka from China. The talks were held during a visit to promote the island at the Shanghai World Travel Fair held at Shanghai Exhibition Centre in China. The team has conducted a series of promotional events and meetings across major cities in China, including Shanghai, Nanjing and Chengdu, during the past week. The Sri Lankan tourism minister has held talks with Xu Weiwan, ... Read more

Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) is offering 5 nights/6 days ‘Shri Ramayana Yatra-Sri Lanka Ex Delhi’ tour package at a starting price of Rs 47,600. The tour dates of the package are June 12, August 25, September 18, October 2, November 20 and December 15, 2018. According to the official website of IRCTC Tourism, the destinations covered under this package are Negombo, Kandy, Nuwara Ellya and Colombo. The trip provided by SriLankan airlines, will start from Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi. The flight will leave at 6:35 pm from Delhi and will reach Colombo at 10:10 pm. On ... Read more

Sri Lanka is planning to bring in more tourists fom Middle East. The island nation received a total of 107,635 tourists from the Middle East region in 2017, up 6.5 per cent compared to 2016. As part of efforts to boost visitor numbers from the GCC, the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau has unveiled its diverse product offerings and experience spread across the small island. “Sri Lanka has much to offer visitors from the region with our distinctive, adventure-packed, eco-friendly, family-focused experiences and offerings, as well as our rich nature, heritage and culture, year-round schedule of festivals and special events, numerous parks ... Read more

In the wake of the continuous political unrests, sexual attacks and violence against foreigners across the nation, Sri Lanka beefs up its security and established new police posts and patrols at popular resorts. The Sri Lankan government has allocated Rs 30 million to establish the police posts. With an aim to protect the visiting tourists, the police department has set up 20 new stations at holiday hotspots. “I wish we had more men and resources for this job, but we are making adjustments to our deployments to ensure better productivity,” said Police chief Pujith Jayasundara. A Dutch tourist was sexually harassed and several other tourists ... Read more

A week after blocking social media websites and apps to prevent the spread of communal violence, the Sri Lankan government is planning to lift the ban. The clash between Sinhalese Buddhists and Muslims in the central Kandy district, a popular tourist destination, was instigated by postings on Facebook threatening more attacks on Muslims. And, in view of this, the government declared a social media ban on March 7 for three days. But, Facebook and Whatsapp still remains blocked, indicating that the ban has been extended. On arrival of the senior Facebook company officials in the country tomorrow, it is likely that the ... Read more