Sri Lanka tourism authorities note gradual increase in tourist arrivals to the country
Managing Director of Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, Charmarie Maelge has reportedly stated that tourist arrivals to the country have started to gradually increase following the post-Easter Sunday attacks.
Noting that tourism arrival is on a recovery mode with some tourists visiting Sri Lanka after the Easter Sunday incident, she has been quoted as saying in the state owned English daily newspaper that tourist arrival numbers are picking up and there is an increased interest from travelers especially from those who prefer to visit crowd free destinations.
She has reportedly expressed these views speaking at a tourism seminar, organized by the Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management in Colombo last week.
“Still there are certain amounts of new bookings at hotels in Arugam Bay because some travelers want that crowd free experience,” she has said.
Despite the fact that tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka plummeted drastically soon after the Easter Sunday incident, she has expressed confidence that tourist numbers would increase and Sri Lankan tourism industry would reach its targets in the due course.
According to her, Sri Lanka would not change or reduce any of the previous planned destination marketing and promotional activities in its annual plan owing to Easter Sunday tragic incident.
In addition to that, Maelge has said the tourism authorities have added several new campaigns to enhance some of the promotions and marketing efforts to revive the industry activities in an aggressive manner.
OSL take:
The many promotional campaigns launched by Sri Lanka’s tourism authorities in overseas markets and the incentives offered by the government of Sri Lanka have given a boost to the tourism sector that was hit by the Easter Sunday attacks. The gradual increase in arrivals shown these days and the lifting of travel advisories by many countries are expected to further boost the sector. With foreign experts expressing confidence in the bounce back Sri Lanka’s tourism sector, foreign businesses/investors could explore business/investment opportunities in the country’s tourism industry.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/07062019/Z_3 |