Sri Lanka sets tourist arrival target to 3 million this year – setting high targets for Sri Lankan tourism

Tourists in Sri Lanka| Img by: Charith Gunarathna via Flickr, CC BY 2.0

Sri Lanka continues to aim higher where the tourism industry is concerned. Expectations for tourism this year has exceeded the original amount of 2.5 million to 3 million straight up! According to sources, 4 million tourist arrivals are targeted in total.

The promotional campaign carefully planned out by the experts, “island Escapes” began from the 15th of September this year. The campaign is aimed at the 3 major markets for tourism, namely, China, India and the Middle East as said by the Minister of Tourism and Christian Affairs, John Amaratunga. The Ministry of Tourism is working on a budget of 65 million for the first phase of the campaign. The overall aim of the entire promotional campaign that has been set up is to make Sri Lanka a 365-day holiday destination for tourists. This means that Sri Lanka holiday packages with travel companies such as Travel Design by CDC will have a very high demand in the future.