DRNew Delhi: With 384,628 Indian travellers visiting Sri Lanka last year, an 8 per cent growth over the previous year, India has retained its spot as the largest inbound source market for Sri Lanka. This increase was majorly fuelled by wedding, honeymoon and spiritual travellers from the Indian market. For 2018, the destination has targeted 440, 000 arrivals from India.
“We plan to have more cultural exchange and joint promotions this year to leverage the growth further. The Sri Lanka Tourism delegation called on K J Alphons, Minister of State (I/C) for Tourism, Government of India, and suggested promoting dual destination packages. We are awaiting the government nod to work on it,” said Chitranganee Wagiswara, High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to India.
“Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau is planning to invest $700,000 in the digital promotions to promote the unparalleled beauty of the island nation in the Indian market. Joint co-ops with Mastercard will soon be rolled out followed by a campaign with Google,” said Sutheash Balasubramium, Managing Director, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau.
The Ramayana trail is being given a new look and HD documentaries are being shot. The trail comprises 50 sites, 25 of which are accessible by road. Simultaneously, local people are being educated on Ramayana stories. A FAM trip will be hosted by Sri Lanka Tourism for the trade later this year.
Strategically expanding its footprint in India, SriLankan Airlines is keen on increasing the destinations and flight frequencies in India as the demand is constantly on the rise. “We have already introduced three new destinations in 2017 namely Visakhapatnam, Hyderabad and Coimbatore and commenced operations with four frequencies a week,” said Chinthaka Weerasinghe, Country Manager, Srilankan Airlines.
