A surge of about 140% in Chinese tourists visiting Sri Lanka has been observed within the first nine months of 2014 when compared to the same period in 2013. Official Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) statistics which provided the figures also reported that the Chinese have become the third largest number of visitors to the country after those from India and Britain.
According to the figures, 94,994 Chinese tourists have come in 2014 up to September while 39,354 had visited the country in the same period last year. The Chinese are overtaking Germans and Russians in the number of tourists visiting Sri Lanka.
Explaining the reason behind this significant increase, SLTPB Managing Director Rumy Jauffer said this is the result of intense advertising campaigns launched in China by the Sri Lankan government and greater engagement with the Chinese media. The recent visit of Chinese President Xi Jingpin has also boosted the country as a tourist destination.
The rise in tourists has also helped the inflow of foreign exchange to the country. According to a recent report of the Central Bank Sri Lanka has already earned about U.S $ 1.5 million from China only.
Sri Lanka is aiming to attract 2.5 million arrivals by 2016, buoyed by fast increasing tourist arrivals from China. Mr. Jauffer said the focus now is on attracting tourists from Middle Eastern and North American countries.
We have recorded more than a 7% economic growth because of our success in tourism. So, we now are focusing more on currency-wise strong countries. Supporting chartered airlines and carrying out public relations exercises have helped us to increase the number of Chinese tourists. The same policies will be adopted for other countries soon, added Mr. Jauffer.While many Chinese tourists visiting the country prefer package offers provided by different travel agencies, Chen Wang and his wife Chow Wu who are on a world tour stated, “We decided to keep Sri Lanka as one of the destinations on our tour when we saw
the publicity programmes and advertisements on buses in the city of Shanghai put out by Sri Lanka Tourism.”
“The atmosphere and the cultural richness of Sri Lanka attracted us to visit thecountry. The country has transformed greatly with the end of the civil war and it’s a peaceful one worth visiting now,” they added.
Source : http://www.sundaytimes.lk/141019/news/chinese-tourist-arrivals-to-sri-lanka-surge-123093.html
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