Harin Fernando, the Minister of Tourism for Sri Lanka, has said that once things come back to normal in the island country after the recent political turmoil, the government of Sri Lanka plans to receive at least 10 lakh visitors this year, the most of which would be from India.
While he was in Ahmedabad to promote tourism in the island country, Fernando said that religious and cultural tourism between Sri Lanka and India “would make a lot of sense.” Fernando was in Ahmedabad to promote tourism in the island nation.
According to Fernando, who was speaking to reporters, “there are a lot of similarities that we can discover with India,” and “we expect that the following year will be largely devoted to India.”
According to the minister, Sri Lanka has already welcomed five lakh visitors so far this year and has set a goal to welcome ten lakh visitors by the end of the year, the majority of whom would come from India.
He went on to say that 2018 was the finest year for the nation when about 23 lakh visitors arrived and created a revenue of USD 4-5 billion for the country, which he stated was the best year ever for the country.
According to Fernando, “so far this year we have 900 million coming from the tourist industry, and we are expecting that by the end of the year we can reach approximately 2 billion.”
According to what he stated, the nation has ambitions of finishing this year with 10 lakh visitors and next year with 15-20 lakh tourists.
“We have welcomed 75,000 tourists from India so far this year in Sri Lanka, with visitors from the United Kingdom coming in second place (65,000). The first two or three months were productive, but then we hit a pretty dry spell between April and June (due to political upheaval), and then things picked back up again “the minister had this to say.
According to him, things have begun to pick up again, and the nation is presently getting close to 2,000 visitors per day (down from a high of 7,000 tourists per day), which is a significant improvement.
“Some people would claim that Sri Lanka is similar to India; in fact, we are a part of India,” “We are the gem that sparkles in the depths of the Indian Ocean. According to Fernando, “The value of Sri Lanka would be for Indians, and we need to sort out that particular issue with Indians.”
He went on to say that the island nation is attempting to collaborate with a few ashrams in India in order to promote this kind of tourism.
“We are attempting to bring in a large number all at once, perhaps 2,000 pilgrims, to the Jaffna airport, and from there we will begin by road. We are considering into these new lines of inquiry. In addition to this, we provide many other forms of health, such as yoga, meditation, and Ayurvedic treatment. The minister made the following statement: “There are a number of ideals that India and Sri Lanka share.”
Sri Lanka considers India to be its “big brother” due to India’s consistent and unwavering assistance. “We applaud the Narendra Modi administration, particularly at this stage when Sri Lanka has had terrible circumstances in the previous few of months,” the minister added. “We have had difficult times in Sri Lanka in the last couple of months.”
According to him, the exchange rate between the Indian rupee and the Sri Lankan rupee puts Sri Lanka ahead of India in terms of value for money. One Indian rupee is equal to four Sri Lankan rupees.
“Indians will get a greater value for their money when traveling Sri Lanka than they would at other Indian locations at this time,” he remarked, referring to the fact that Sri Lanka has a lot more to offer.
According to Fernando, it is unfortunate that tourists from Gujarat are more interested in traveling to countries in the Far East such as Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand as their primary vacation destinations.
Sanath Jayasuriya, a cricketer from Sri Lanka who also serves as a brand ambassador for the nation’s tourist industry, said that the people of his country have realized that they need to return to regular living.
“The people of Sri Lanka are hoping that the new administration would bring stability. People have noticed this shift in response to the fuel crisis and the gas shortage, and as a result, we no longer have huge lines. Jayasuriya said that this is what the general public needs.
“We need need tourists to come to Sri Lanka. Because the government relies heavily on tourism as its primary source of revenue, it is now completely safe for tourists to visit. It should be communicated that it is possible for you to visit Sri Lanka. We are a welcoming and kind people. According to what he said, “we want people to go and visit Sri Lanka.” “