Middle East a key market for SL tourism – Prasanna

Dubai: The Middle East will be a key tourism market for Sri Lanka, said Minister of Tourism Prasanna Ranatunge at the Dubai Expo.

He said that the high expatriate population would be the key to wooing more arrivals from UAE while the air connectivity among the two countries too would boost this drive.

“Sri Lanka Tourism has been on an aggressive brand-building and promotion drive as the island is now open to fully vaccinated travellers from around the world. The strategy by Sri LankaTourism to ensure that Sri Lanka remains a top of the mind destination despite the pandemic is

now reaping rewards. Also, Gulf-based ex-pat too cannot visit European destinations and this can be turned to our advantage.”

“COVID-19 harms our traditional European markets, particularly in Europe. However, there is a lot of potentials to attract Indian, Middle Eastern and Russian travellers wanting to make a holiday.”

Sri Lanka Tourism has been able to secure high earned media value through the participation at Expo 2020 Dubai and the visit by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid of the UAE and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is sure to spark much enthusiasm and interest at the global event for Sri Lanka. In addition, Sri Lanka Day in Dubai also attracted many VIP’s.