New Delhi. Sri Lanka’s Tourism Minister says that Sri Lanka is benefiting a lot from the differences between Maldives and India. The country’s Tourism Minister Harin Fernando said on Thursday that the appeal to Indian travelers to boycott Maldives is helping Sri Lanka’s travel industry. Fernando told CNBC in January, citing the social media controversy, that ‘the Maldives issue… is helping us, due to which there has been a huge decline in the number of Indian tourists to Maldives this year.’ India was Maldives’ biggest market in 2023. But according to the Sri Lankan Tourism Ministry, it is now ranked sixth after China, Russia, United Kingdom, Italy and Germany.
According to the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority, about 34,400 Indian tourists visited Sri Lanka in January, which is more than double the 13,759 tourists who visited in January last year. Fernando said that Sri Lanka is a big market for Indian travellers. He mentioned the country’s beaches, casinos, shopping and places related to Ramayana. He said that at the same time both the countries are highly connected. Connectivity is a big factor. He said that Sri Lankan Airlines flies to Indian airports alone 80 times a week.
The increasing travel power of Indians
Fernando said the prediction that Indian travelers will become the world’s fourth largest travel spenders by 2030 bodes well for Sri Lanka’s tourism industry. Fernando said that ‘I think the fastest growing economy is India and Sri Lanka is definitely benefiting from it. Indian companies have invested heavily in the island. Big hotel chain ITC opened its first hotel outside India in Sri Lanka.
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Sri Lanka suffered losses due to civil war
Fernando said that there was a 25-year civil war going on there, which ended in 2009. Fernando said plans to add adventure activities to attract young travelers have also been outlined. That includes everything from hot air ballooning to skydiving and diving to explore more than 100 shipwrecks from around World War II.
Tags: sri lanka, Tourism, tourism business, tourism minister
FIRST PUBLISHED: May 16, 2024, 19:48 IST