There is a significant increase in the arrival of up market tourists to Sri Lanka benefiting the country not only in terms of financial returns, but also by the values they represent, Senior Lecturer of the Department of Tourism Management, Sabaragamuwa University M.S.M.Aslam said. He said that the concept of spiritual tourism is flourishing rapidly in Sri Lanka as there is a huge demand for this concept in the world.

Addressing the media yesterday at the Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management, Senior Lecturer Aslam said that away from routine tourism based on sun, sand and sea, spiritual tourism is also coming up in Sri Lanka. There is a growing trend among foreigners specially from the Middle Eastern countries to visit Sri Lanka seeking inner peace during their vacation and to gain spiritual development specially through meditation and pilgrimage tours.

“A considerable amount of Muslim tourists visit Sri Lanka to learn Buddhism as they believe that Sri Lanka is the only place where they can learn pure Buddhism,” Aslam said.

He also said that a large number of meditation centres have already been set up in Sri Lanka to meet this growing demand for spiritual tourism. The government is also developing infrastructure facilities for the improvement of the tourism industry.