A report by Sri Lankan bank Capital Alliance has said that India and China would likely be the source of the majority of tourist arrivals in the coming years.
Arrivals from Western Europe are expected to taper off with a decreasing rate of growth. The report pointed out that the financial crisis does not seem to have had an impact on tourists travelling abroad from Europe.
India, already the largest tourist market for the island, is projected to increase their number of visitors 6 times to 750,000 compared to the 187,000 expected to have visited Sri Lanka by the end of this year.
Chinese tourists are mentioned as a ‘wild-card’, with vast potential for Sri Lanka to attract more visitors from the increasingly wealthy middle class.
Government plans for increased investment in casinos and shopping centres are said to give Sri Lanka an advantage against neighbouring countries, the report adds.
See report by Sri Lanka’s Financial Times here.
We need your support
Sri Lanka is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist. Tamil journalists are particularly at threat, with at least 41 media workers known to have been killed by the Sri Lankan state or its paramilitaries during and after the armed conflict.
Despite the risks, our team on the ground remain committed to providing detailed and accurate reporting of developments in the Tamil homeland, across the island and around the world, as well as providing expert analysis and insight from the Tamil point of view
We need your support in keeping our journalism going. Support our work today.
For more ways to donate visit https://donate.tamilguardian.com.
