SLTPB to capitalise on cruise tourism

Wednesday, 9 March 2016 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

By Shehana Dain

Cruise tourism, an attractive prospect which has been under the radar thus far, will get a revamp this year around as SLTPB has identified up to 50 cruises which will dock in three main ports in the country.

According to SLTPB Director Destination Social Responsibility Indrajith Silva, the average docking period for a cruise is about one day.

“These cruises have around 330 passengers and we are planning to increase awareness about our tourism offerings when they dock in Sri Lanka. Already this is happening as we have some tour operators who take these foreigners around the country; we want to fine tune this. The most important fact we should understand is that all these passengers are big spenders; if not they won’t be in a cruise and we have to grasp that opportunity.”

According to Sri Lanka Ports Authority Data, 41 cruises are scheduled to arrive at Sri Lanka from March onwards of which 29 will dock at Colombo port, five at Galle, three at Hambantota and one will be anchored at Trincomalee port. Moreover during January to February 10 cruises have berthed at Sri Lankan ports.