Sri Lanka woos tourists

DUBAI — The Chairman of the Sri Lanka Tourist Board (SLTB), Udaya Nanayakkara underscored the importance of the Middle East as a tourism market during his first official visit to the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) yesterday.

By A Staff Reporter

Published: Mon 11 Oct 2004, 9:38 AM

Last updated: Thu 2 Apr 2015, 2:39 PM

Speaking at the Dubai Press Club yesterday, Mr Nanayakkara highlighted the synergies due to two countries' focus on tourism.

“The strategic locations of our countries makes Sri Lanka an ideal springboard for the Middle East tourism into Asia, as well as Australasia.

“With the recent bilateral air services agreements between Sri Lanka and Kuwait, and Sri Lanka and Qatar, Colombo is now part of the regional and global route network of several Middle Eastern airlines, which provide flexible accessibility to Sri Lanka from the Middle Eastern countries. SriLankan Airlines flies to all major cities in the Gulf almost daily while airlines such as Emirates, Qatar Airways, Ettihad Airways, Gulf Air, Oman Air and Saudi Airlines has one or more flights daily. We are confident that we will continue to see increasing traffic through both countries,” he said.

Commenting on the high inbound traffic, the chairman said, “Sri Lanka has developed into a perfect short-haul destination for the Middle East travellers. Not only is it a ‘green respite’ from the city and desert landscape, the island offers a rich history and cultural experience.”

“It also has a very Muslim-friendly atmosphere due to its historical Arabic links. Mosques are widely available as is Halal food. Being just four hours away and the recent additions in direct flights are other factors which can explain its popularity in this region,” he said.

He also said that the Sri Lanka Tourist Board has set high goals for the tourism potential of the country. “Sri Lanka is aiming for a one million tourist arrival figure by the year 2010,” he said.

“Major hotel upgrades and other tourism infrastructure developments are currently underway, demonstrating a confidence in the growth potential of the Sri Lankan tourism market,” he added.

This year’s figures for tourist arrivals have also reflected strong growth of 38.3 per cent — from 4,449 in 2003 to 6,152 — for first eight months of this year.

Furthermore, in the month of August alone, the region showed an increase of 44.3 per cent compared to August 2003, which surpassed the recorded increase in the major markets — the UK, Italy and the Netherlands.