India to replace UK as the number one tourists market
Visiting Indians, who pop over for business and shopping bargains, is likely to replace the United Kingdom as the biggest tourism market for Sri Lanka this year, top officials said Friday. Visiting Indians, who pop over for business and shopping bargains, is likely to replace the United Kingdom as the biggest tourism market for Sri Lanka this year, top officials said Friday. Sri Lanka has stepped up its promotional activities in the Asian region, as traditional tourism markets like Western Europe, are still bombarded with haunting tsunami images.
But the Indian market in particular, has been singled out with special offers, thanks to relaxed visa restrictions and more flights shuttling between both countries.
"The number of Indian travelers has quadrupled since we relaxed visa restrictions on them three years back. And the way things are going, we will see the largest number of tourists coming from India this year," said Prathap Ramanujam, Secretary Tourism Ministry.
