Tourism Minister briefs Cabinet on need for revival plan

• Proposes new promotional campaigns targeting India, Australia, Middle East, US, Canada to overcome impact from Russia-Ukrainian conflict 
• Govt. expects to generate $ 2.4 b, whilst expecting 1.3 m visitors by year end
• Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga believes achieving these targets will help SL overcome forex crisis

Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga on Monday briefed the Cabinet of Ministers on the need for a suitable revival program to sustain the industry in the face of the multiple crises in the country.

He also tabled a Cabinet note on the revival of the tourism industry, whilst insisting the Government should ensure that the sector is not affected by the energy crisis.

The Tourism Ministry yesterday announced that the tourism promotion programs targeting India, Australia, the Middle East, US and Canada will be implemented to prevent the potential impact on tourism, as a reflection of the ongoing Ukraine – Russia war.

Minister Ranatunga said that there has been a significant increase in the number of tourist arrivals, adding that the Government expects 1.3 million visitors to generate $ 2.4 billion by the year end.

“Achieving this target will help Sri Lanka overcome the current foreign exchange crisis,” he pointed out.

As per provisional data released by the Tourism Ministry, Sri Lanka has received 95,377 tourists, whilst pushing the cumulative figure to 274,211 as of 27 March. On an average 3,532 tourists arrived daily in the country.