Warm welcome for 1 millionth tourist for 2024

Reaching an important milestone of promoting the destination across the globe, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, in collaboration with Airport Aviation Services and SriLankan Airlines, welcomed the one millionth tourist arrival to Sri Lanka on Saturday.

The lucky couple to complete this much anticipated visit of the year was Paul and Patricia Roe from Ireland who travelled to Sri Lanka via UL 504 from London. Being solo travelers, this is considered as their first visit to Sri Lanka. They will be touring Sri Lanka for three weeks starting from Trincomalee. A special celebration was arranged in this regard, and they were warmly welcomed upon their arrival by officials of the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, including Director PR Madubhani Perera, and Deputy Director Tourism Information Centre Harindra Wijewardene. 

They were invited to mark their special arrival by lighting the traditional oil lamp and were garlanded by the Tourism Information Centre officials, and were very much delighted with the amazing hospitality of the Sri Lankans and also the unexpected special welcome. A special dance performance was also arranged to entertain the guests. They also joined in by cutting a special cake to mark the occasion, receiving souvenirs on their special visit. This will no doubt make their stay in Sri Lanka more memorable and cherished in time to come.

Along with this milestone, Sri Lanka Tourism is gaining its momentum of taking Sri Lanka’s uniqueness as a ‘treasure trove’ among travel destinations across the world. The paradise island is blessed with every possible holiday opportunity ranging from the golden coastlines to the delicious authentic cuisine. 

SLTPB said this visit indicates a positive outlook for Sri Lanka in receiving its future tourist arrivals. As Sri Lanka Tourism is getting closer to its set target of reaching over two million tourist arrivals for this year, this can be considered as another successful result of the promotional efforts of Sri Lanka Tourism, also boosting up the revenue as the third foreign exchange earner in the country.