Tourism
From The Report: Sri Lanka 2016
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With rapidly rising arrivals and revenues in 2014 and 2015, Sri Lanka is currently in the midst of a tourism growth spurt, which has the potential to turn the small South Asian island nation into one of the world’s most popular tourist destinations in the years to come. In 2015 some 1.8m tourists visited the country, according to data from the regulator, the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority. This is up nearly 18% on the previous year. The newly elected government has made ambitious plans to attract 2.2m visitors in 2016 and 4m by 2020. This chapter contains an interview with Rajan Brito, Deputy Chairman and Managing Director, Aitken Spence.

Articles from this Chapter

Overview

Rising star: The industry is poised to become a key economic contributor in the coming years
OBG
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With rapidly rising arrivals and revenues in 2014 and 2015, Sri Lanka is currently in the midst of a tourism growth spurt, which has the potential to turn the small South Asian island nation into one of the world’s most popular tourist destinations in the years to come. In 2015 some 1.8m tourists visited the country, according to data from the regulator, the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA). This is up nearly 18% on the previous year. The nation’s newly elected government has made…

Analysis

Looking east: A recent influx of Chinese visitors has the sector preparing for future growth
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One aim of Sri Lanka’s is to attract 2.2m tourists in 2016, an increase of 22% on 2015, according to the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA). Achieving this goal will require growth from a handful of key foreign markets, including India, Pakistan and some Gulf countries. Arguably more important than all of these, however, is China. Over the past five years Chinese tourists have travelled in large numbers to Sri Lanka, and are becoming one of the South Asian country’s most important…

Interview

Building the destination: OBG talks to Rajan Brito, Deputy Chairman and Managing Director, Aitken Spence
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Interview:Rajan Brito What more can be done to better market Sri Lanka as a global destination? RAJAN BRITO: Much needs to be done to improve how we brand Sri Lanka. Traditionally, the government thinking was that when the war ended, people would just come. Because it relied on this alone, nothing substantial has been done. By not encouraging the major tour operators to come in, and by not encouraging charters, we have failed to draw the commitments that would then bring the numbers. Thailand…

Analysis

Ship shape: Boosting the rapidly expanding cruise segment is a government priority
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In early October 2015 the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotions Bureau (SLTPB) announced that the nation planned to make a major investment in cruise tourism, which has been an increasingly important source of visitor arrivals in recent years. The government’s development initiative, known as the Cruise Tourism Marketing Plan, aims to turn the cruise segment into a top-five source of tourist revenues for the country and attract ships carrying more than 100,000 visitors in total each year – more than double…