Sri Lanka all set to Experience Tourism Boom in Next Five Years

Sri Lanka, one of the favourite destinations for British and American tourists is all set to bundle away the signs of shells that tore peace on the island for sometime. After massive unrest the region seems to have calmed down and in the last quarter there has been a rise in tourists by 50%.

Violence and terrorism always affect normal life and tourism had fallen not only in Sri Lanka but also in its neighbouring country, Thailand, where it fell almost by a range of 30% to 50% due to the recent protests. However, it is expected that tourism will rise in Asia and people will tour to places where peace prevails. At the Travel and Tourism Summit in Beijing, Bill Marriott corroborated the view that there would be growth in tourism in Asia.

At present, Sri Lanka earns USD 400 million annually from tourism and intends to earn USD 1000 million by 2015. It also expects an increase in tourists from 500,000 to 2.5 million. It’s but natural that the future will see a number of affordable airlines operating flights to Sri Lanka.
Employment and tourism go hand in hand as tourism employs 235 m people across the globe. The Chinese Government has made Tourism as one of its priority sectors for support and the Sri Lankan Government is logically encouraging tourism.

Having fought home grown terrorism successfully, Sri Lanka is making tremendous efforts to boost tourism and will launch a new programme, ‘Travel Sri Lanka’, to promote the country around the world.

As consumption in China is growing by 15%-20%, the Chinese globe trotters are expected to explore the world. So Sri Lanka is trying hard to draw the attention of Chinese tourists. Sri Lanka saw 70 percent rise in Chinese tourists last winter.

The country is expecting an increased number of flights to Colombo which is the international face of the country and has the country’s only international airport. The country’s national carrier, Sri Lankan Airlines is the preferred airline for many to book cheap flights to Sri Lanka.