Sri Lanka to kick off mega integrated tourism digital plan to boost arrivals

(FASTNEWS|COLOMBO) – Sri Lanka’s Cabinet of Ministers on Thursday (11) approved a proposal to kick off an integrated tourism digital plan to boost the number of arrivals to the country, the Xinhua reported.

Following a proposal by Minister of Tourism Development, Wildlife and Christian Religious Affairs, John Amaratunga, under the tourism digital plan, an estimated USD 1.95 million will be invested to further develop the tourism industry and improve Sri Lanka’s security image globally.

The digital plan will be conducted under Public Private Partnership basis until the end of 2020.

The tourism ministry, in a statement, said this investment would be mainly focused on five high tourism arrival markets, namely China, India, Britain, Germany, and France.

Another key objective under this program is to increase average spending of tourists per day to USD 210 and increase the employment within the tourism industry to reach 600,000 by the end of 2020.

In addition, steps will also be taken to increase security for tourists traveling to Sri Lanka and to coordinate more joint synergies among airlines flying to Sri Lanka. Measures will also be taken to provide better experiences for tourists.

Sri Lanka’s tourism industry is targeting 3 million tourists by the end of the year with a revenue of USD 5 billion this year. So far this year, Sri Lanka has attracted 740,000 tourists.