Sri Lanka’s Tourism Minister woos more Russian tourists during visit to Moscow
Sri Lanka’s Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga recently visited Moscow, Russia in a bid to attract more Russian tourists to Sri Lanka for a safe holiday experience.
According to local media reports, the Minister’s visit had coincided with the resumption of SriLankan Airlines’ direct weekly flights to Moscow recently following an absence of six years.
Minister Ranatunga, during his visit to Moscow, had held a meeting with Russian Federation Federal Agency for Tourism (FAT) Deputy Head Lysenkova Elena Vasilievna and Head of the Department of International Cooperation Smilevets Demyan Olegovich.
During the meeting, Ranatunga had noted that Sri Lanka was a popular tourist destination for Russians and that there was scope to increase the number of arrivals.
The tourist-friendly health protocols and other guidelines followed by Sri Lanka was also discussed at the meeting.
Development of tourism infrastructure in Sri Lanka, bilateral tourism communications, as well as ongoing and planned destination marketing efforts in Russia, had also been discussed during the meeting.
The importance of establishing regular communications with tourism companies between Russia and Sri Lanka and the idea of selecting a Russian sister city or region and developing cooperation with it was also mooted, along with the possibility of organising a tourism forum in Moscow, as well as participation in travel and tourism exhibitions in Russia were also discussed, the Daily FT has reported.
OSL take:
Sri Lanka’s tourism industry was one of the fastest growing economic sectors in the country when the global Covid 19 pandemic brought about global travel restrictions. However, the country’s tourism industry is once again on the path to recovery after the country reopened its borders and encouraged foreign travellers to Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka has been listed as a must visit destination by several leading global travel publications and the country’s airports have also received the internationally recognized safety and hygiene certifications making the island an attractive post Covid travel destination. Sri Lanka has already attracted several foreign investments to the country’s tourism industry and has shown great potential in further development.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/12082021/Z_2 |