• Arrivals from China up 81% to 94,500 in 1H
• Monkey Kingdom education pack for school children; moots Monkey Kingdom showpiece in the Disneyland in Shanghai 
• SriLankan Airlines to offer chance for 20 kids to fly in and explore Polonnaruwa

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The Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) will be launching a promotion to woo Chinese tourists to the island with Disney’s nature epic ‘Monkey Kingdom’.  Working in partnership with SriLankan Airlines and the Shanghai Tourism Promotion Bureau, the promotion will offer 20 lucky children the chance to visit Sri Lanka and explore the ancient city of Polonnaruwa where Monkey Kingdom was filmed.

Participants will also receive the same educational pack that was launched in the United States in tandem with the film that grossed $ 16.5 million in box office ticket sales since its launch.  Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau Chairman Rohantha Athukorala stated that the initiative will help to further increase the number of Chinese tourists visiting Sri Lanka which during the first half of 2015 grew by 81% to 94,500 arrivals. The overall program will include an education drive concerned with responsible environment management and the importance of biodiversity.

“We are also pursuing if there is a possibility of setting up Monkey Kingdom in the Disneyland Park which is to be set up in Shanghai in 2016. This will give a new positioning to Sri Lanka as a tourist destination. We must attract a quality travelers from the booming Chinese outbound market which is almost 140 million last year. Sri Lanka is targeting 300,000 by 2016 which is just 2% of the market,” Athukorala noted.