India pledges commitment and support to help revive Sri Lanka tourism

• Says Sri Lanka deserves to be supported as it is a country worth visiting
• Affirms with support from TAAI, SL will revive more quickly and effectively
• Plans afoot by SL Tourism to kick off second series of road shows in India in Nov.

TAAI President Jyoti Mayal during her visit to Sri Lanka earlier this year to sign the tripartite agreement for 60th convention 
Pic by Waruna Wanniarachchi   

By Shabiya Ali Ahlam

The travel and tour operators in India have pledged support to help Sri Lanka tourism move towards the positive growth trajectory and affirmed it would actively promote the island nation across all states. 
The Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) said it would by no means back out from selling destination Sri Lanka in India but would step up efforts in educating travellers in its country on the experience the nation has to offer. 

Speaking to Mirror Business, TAAI President Jyoti Mayal said the Indian travel and tour agents are of the view that Sri Lanka must and should be supported as it attempts to brave through the series of challenges it has faced in the recent months. 

“Sri Lanka, I feel, deserves to be supported as it is a country worth visiting. Not only value for money but it is a country that relates to our Indian culture, history, religion and has the most wonderful forms of entertainment.  

Every crisis brings multiple opportunities and surely, Sri Lanka with the TAAI’s support will revive quickly and more effectively,” said Mayal, speaking exclusively to Mirror Business on the take on Sri Lanka.  When questioned on the possibility of moving to another host country to facilitate the 60th TAAI convention, Mayal said the association is keen and determined to bring its convention to Sri Lanka as planned. 

“The TAAI is keen to organise its convention in Colombo and our counterparts there are equally eager to host us. As the economy continues to improve, we shall discuss and announce the dates accordingly,” she said. 
Industry sources shared that following the decision to postpone the event that was to be held in November this year, it is likely for the convention to take place within the first quarter of 2023. The dates are yet to be confirmed.  India is currently the largest tourist traffic generator for Sri Lanka and authorities are increasing its focus on the neighbouring giant to increase tourist arrivals to the country.  

Speaking to journalists in Colombo recently, Tourism Minister Harin Fernando said that Sri Lanka Tourism and industry stakeholders are stepping up efforts to attract more Indian travellers to the country, as it is a more realistic market to target, given the current context.   Officials from the Tourism Ministry and Sri Lanka Tourism, along with industry stakeholders took part in the Three Cities Road Show that was held in Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad last month.  According to Fernando, the five-day road show was a “resounding success” and the local tourism sector stakeholders were able to make a “positive impact in a short timeline”.  Plans are underway to kick off another series of road shows in India come November, where Chennai, Cochin and Bangalore will be focused.  Arrivals from the neighbouring giant are expected to improve in the coming months, as India’s Spicejet will resume services to Colombo from November 15. Plans are afoot to also introduce a cruise from Pondecherry.

Sri Lanka welcomes 11,000 tourists from October 1-9

Sri Lanka welcomed 11,093 tourists for the first nine days of October, showing a slight improvement in the rate of arrivals compared with the month of September.
The provisional data released by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLDTA) showed that with the October tourist arrivals so far, the total number of international visitors entering the country since January 1 has reached 537,325. The daily arrival average for the month of October for the first nine days is 1,232, which is significantly higher than the daily arrival average of September, which was 1,198.

India maintained its position as the most prominent tourist traffic generator. For the October 1 to 9 period, the country accounted for 2,340 total arrivals. The Russian Federation is back on the list and ranks as the second largest source market for Sri Lanka tourism by bringing in 1,307 international visitors. For several months Sri Lanka saw tourist arrivals from Russia fall, due to the ongoing conflict it has with Ukraine. Ukraine, an emerging source market for destination Sri Lanka, is now entirely off the list. Raking third is the United Kingdom, which accounted for 1,015 of the total arrivals for the month. Other notable markets include Germany, the Maldives and Australia. Sri Lanka is aiming to close the year 2022 with one million tourists. Though not officially revised downwards, Tourism Minister Harin Fernando said he expected the year would end with about 800,000 tourist arrivals, given the current scenario.

“As per the projections of the SLTDA, we expect at least 300,000 tourists to visit Sri Lanka in the coming three months,” he said, addressing journalists in Colombo last week. The tourism sector is expected to generate revenue amounting to US $ 1.7 billion in 2022. As per the latest data released by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, for the first nine months of the year, a total of US $ 946.4 million in revenue was generated. For the month of September, the earnings from tourism amounted to US $ 53.6 million.