Sri Lanka Tourism enters China’s religious tourism sector

• Arrivals cross 119,705 with a growth of 77.6% as at end July 
• China World Charity wishes to invest $ 10 million to build temple in Colombo

Zhao Xian Zhang - Chairman International Tour Management Association of the World Religious Charity Foundation with Sri Lanka Tourism Chairman Dr. Rohantha Athukorala, Director Marketing - Madubani Perera, Market Head China - Chintaka Liyanarachchi and Assistant Director Randima Udunuwarage together with Key Destination Marketing Companies (DMCs) in Sri Lanka

Good destination management includes the development of new products while focusing market development work on strong foundation branding if a country wishes to attract top-dollar potential tourists, said Sri Lanka Tourism Promotions Bureau Chairman Dr. Rohantha Athukorala at a meeting with Zhao Xian Zhang, Chairman of the International Tour Management Association of the World Religious Charity Foundation, held at the Sri Lanka Tourist Board. 

Recent research reveals that short stays give peace of mind and greater tolerance of the difficulties that exists within our fast-paced lives, which is essentially why a global spike in religious tourism has occurred, noted a communiqué from the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotions Bureau. 

“Specific to China, almost 85% of the people in China hold some religious belief or practice some kind of religion, a Chinese spiritual life survey conducted in 2012 by the Beijing-based Horizon Research Consultancy Group revealed,” said Athukorala. 

“The survey also revealed that the growth of Buddhism was extraordinary, with about 18% of the 7,021 respondents in the survey claiming to be believers which means that more than 200 million people in the country believe in Buddhism which gives us a view of the market opportunity. Together with the key Destination Marketing Companies (DMCs) we will develop a new line of tourism which will include a series of above-the-line and below-the-line marketing activity.” 

He added that the number was around 100 million some years back as estimated by the Buddhist Association of China which tells us something about the changing dynamics of China, which crossed the 119,705 mark as at end July 2015 with a registered growth of 77.6% into Sri Lanka. The country is targeting 225,000 visitors for 2015, he said.