Kerala to work with Sri Lanka on tourism

Friday, 24 April 2015 01:05 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Thiruvananthapuram: Sri Lanka and Kerala are to collaborate in the tourism sector. In addition to developing existing tourist locations, the move would also seek to enhance the flow of tourists to the two destinations. A team led by minister A P Anilkumar is to meet Sri Lankan tourism minister Naveen Dissanayake in the coming two days. A road show of Kerala tourism would also be held at Colombo in a day. Malayala Manorama had earlier published a story on the advances made by Lankan tourism and a brainstorming session that followed the story here suggested closer ties with Sri Lanka for mutual development. Chinese and other tourists from eastern nations visit Lanka the most and Kerala is also targeting that section of tourists. While initial official-level talks were initiated with Sri Lankan authorities during the Berlin tourism festival, Kerala received invitation from Sri Lanka for discussions at the ministerial level later. Since Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi have visa-on-arrival facility, tourists from Lanka can easily visit the state. Discussions would also revolve around developing such facilities in future. Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe who visited Kerala a day earlier said that his nation was ready to cooperate with Kerala in the tourism sector. It is in this background that ministerial talks are expected to be more effective. (Source: manoramaonline.com) The Kerala tourism department is also planning to forge alliances with Lanka and Maldives to create a tourism circuit.