Sri Lanka to attract Chinese tourists in Q1
The Morning: Sri Lanka expects to increase its tourist arrivals from China in the first quarter of the year, with the opening of a Consulate General office in Chengdu, Sichuan Province in China, Minister of Foreign Affairs Vijitha Herath has told parliament.
“We expect next year, in the first quarter, to open a Consulate General office in the city of Chengdu, China. There are Consulate General offices operating in a few cities across China at present,” Herath said, addressing parliament.
Sri Lanka has seen an influx of Chinese tourists during the annual Lunar New Year celebrations that took place between January and February. Chinese tourist arrivals in Sri Lanka doubled during the period leading up to and during the first week of the new year with 19,809 arrivals, data from the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority from 2025 shows.
The two-week nation-wide holiday enables yearly out-bound travel for Chinese tourists. “Our aim with this new Consulate General in Chengdu is to attract a significant number of Chinese tourists to Sri Lanka, and to facilitate their trips, for their own ease,” Herath added.
The cumulative total of Chinese tourist arrivals in Sri Lanka in 2025 currently stands at 112,454 2,946 arrivals, according to data from the SLTDA. Last year’s cumulative Chinese arrivals, including the total arrivals seen in the month of November stood at 121, 082 arrivals.
“At the beginning of the year itself, we commenced foreign relations through the operations of the newly opened New Zealand [Sri Lankan] High Commission. In the recent past the Consulate General in Cyprus was closed. There are many Sri Lankans employed in Cyprus. This year, the Consulate General in Cyprus has been reopened and operations have recommenced.”
Sri Lanka’s total earnings from tourism for 2025 currently stands at $ 2.6 billion, while cumulative earnings for 2024 was $ 3.17 billion. Sri Lanka saw its 2 millionth arrival for the year as of 17 November, though it had initially set a target of 3 million arrivals at the beginning of the year.
OSL take:
Sri Lanka’s promotional campaigns in key tourist source markets while expanding the tourism concepts offered to foreign travelers ensures further growth in the country’s tourism industry, which is already on a steady growth path. While being identified as a must visit tourist destination, many facets of the country including culture, heritage and food have received global recognition in the past few months. All these developments have resulted in the growth and expansion of Sri Lanka’s tourism industry as well as related sectors. These expansions in turn have opened a host of business/investment opportunities for foreign businesses/investors on the lookout for lucrative ventures in the region, especially in Sri Lanka. The ongoing refurbishment as well as expansion programmes carried out by many businesses in the tourism industry and the interest shown by international leisure and hospitality brands to enter the country, all indicate the increasing business potential in Sri Lanka’s tourism industry and related sectors. All these factors indicate that Sri Lanka’s tourism industry and related sectors present lucrative ventures for foreign businesses/investors.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/20251118/Z_1 |