Over 19,000 tourists have arrived in the country within the first two weeks of November, boosting the revival plans of the COVID-hit industry.

Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga said yesterday 19,222 tourists have arrived in the country within the first two week of November, mainly from India, UK, Germany, France, Russia, Switzerland, Canada, Pakistan, US, and the Maldives.

He made these remarks at the inauguration of the Sri Lanka Tourism Expo 2021 at One Galle Face yesterday. The expo is organised by the Alumni Association of Tourism Economics and Hospitality Management (AATEHM), and the Tourism Study Programs of the Department of Economics, Faculty of Arts, University of Colombo as the Strategic Knowledge Partner, the SLTE-21 partners with One Galle Face Mall and runs parallel to the celebration of UN-WTO World Tourism Day 2021.

With the arrivals up to 14 November, the cumulative tourist arrivals since the reopening of borders on 21 January is 80,310.

Early this month, Sri Lanka saw two main international airlines, Air France and Swiss Air, resuming scheduled flights to Colombo in a major breakthrough after many years.

Considering the growing interest from global travellers to visit the country, Minister Ranatunga said the tourism industry is looking forward to a busy winter season. 

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