COLOMBO, Feb 24 (NNN-XINHUA) – Sri Lanka plans to allocate 56 million U.S. dollars for tourism promotion activities, in its main tourist source countries, during the second quarter of 2022, an official said here yesterday.
The main targets for tourism promotion include Britain, India, Russia and China, said Minister of Tourism, Prasanna Ranatunga, during a press conference.
He said that, they have an ambitious plan to attract tourists this year and Minister of Finance Basil Rajapaksa agreed to provide 56 million dollars for the promotion.
“We will also carry out promotional activities in other countries that are potential sources of tourism. We are trying to get tourists as groups,” Ranatunga said.
The Sri Lankan government approved in 2021, a five-year global action plan, to promote tourism. The Ministry of Tourism is currently in the process of selecting an event management firm, an advertising firm and a digital partner, to implement the project.
So far in 2022, over 150,000 tourists have visited Sri Lanka. In Dec, 2021, business consultancy, McKinsey & Company, told an economic forum in Colombo, organised by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, that, Sri Lanka may take up to five years to reach the tourist figure recorded in 2018, prior to the Easter Sunday attacks in 2019, and the outbreak of COVID-19 in the country in 2020.– NNN-XINHUA
