SLITHM Chairman Shirantha Peiris 

• Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management Chief Shirantha Peiris highlights importance of hosting regular events to draw visitors
• Sri Lanka to hold first-ever Chinese marathon outside China drawing around 3,000 athletes 
• Organises three day Seafood Festival in Unawatuna coinciding with marathon to cater to over 5,000 Chinese travellers
• Insists on importance of understanding preferences, air connectivity to enhance overall experience, repeat visits

By Charumini de Silva

Sri Lanka Tourism is setting its sights on welcoming one million Chinese travellers over the next four years through the ‘China Project’.

Following a recent high-level delegation visit to China, the Chongqing Municipality has committed to sending one million Chinese travellers to Sri Lanka within this timeframe. The China Project is spearheaded by the Prime Minister’s Office with a special focus on poverty alleviation and livelihood generation.

Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management (SLITHM) Chairman Shirantha Peiris, who is involved in launching the tourism arm of the China Project, described the move’s  ambitious goals, stating that it aims not only to increase visitor numbers but also to host events and boost revenue for the country.

He announced that the first batch of Chinese tourists is due to arrive this month for leisure travel, whilst the second batch of around 5,000 is scheduled to visit in May to participate in the first-ever Chinese marathon outside the country.

 “We have managed to bring a Chinese marathon to Sri Lanka from 1-3 May. We expect around 3,000 athletes, along with their support staff and families, resulting in around 5,000 Chinese visitors during that period,” Peiris stated.

The Chinese marathon slated for 2 May, will stretch from Ratmalana to Beruwala, offering participants a scenic route along Sri Lanka’s coastline. To complement the marathon, a Seafood Festival will take place from 1-3 May in Unawatuna, adding vibrancy to the event.

“Building on the success of this marathon and seafood festival, we aim to establish them as recurring calendar events,” he added.

In the long term, to achieve the goal of attracting one million Chinese tourists, Peiris stressed the importance of collaboration with the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) to implement robust marketing strategies and organise a diverse range of events to appeal to visitors from all regions of China.

He also said that understanding their preferences in terms of accommodation options, food, language support, tour guides and air connectivity was essential to have a sustainable influx of travellers over the four years, whilst creating a welcoming environment for Chinese tourists to enhance the overall travel experience to boost repeat visits.

In 2023, China made it to the top five source markets with 68,789 tourists (5%) of the 1.48 million total arrivals, despite the slow start to reopen its borders due to COVID pandemic travel restrictions. China used to be Sri Lanka’s second biggest source market pre-COVID after India. In crisis-free 2018, tourist arrivals from China were at 265,965, but it fell to 167,863 in 2019 owing to the Easter Sunday terror attacks. There were a record 271,577 Chinese tourists in 2016.

China included Sri Lanka in a pilot program to resume its outbound tourism by groups from 6 February 2023 and on 1 March welcomed the first batch of Chinese tourists for the year after a lapse of three years. 

Last year, Sri Lanka Tourism held two road shows in multiple cities in China. The first was held from 17 to 21 April 2023 in Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou, whilst the second one was held in May focusing on the cities of Kunming, Beijing and Shanghai. 

– Pix by Shehan Gunasekara 

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