First Group of Chinese tourists arrive after easing of restrictions

Sri Lanka welcomed the first major group of tourists to Sri Lanka from China after the relaxation of outbound travel restrictions by the Chinese authorities yesterday.

The group, consisting of 120 tourists, arrived on SriLankan Airlines flight UL1881 from Guangzhou yesterday. SriLankan Airlines is set to renew its commercial operations to China in the first week of April 2023, with a three times weekly service each to Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangzhou.

More Chinese airlines too are expected to fly to Sri Lanka by April. Some Chinese tourists at the airport. China is one of the key source markets for Sri Lanka, as China is marked as a nation which brings a large number of tourists to Sri Lanka annually. During 2018, China was the highest tourist generating market receiving 265,965 tourist arrivals from China up to December in the same year.

Therefore, by renewing connections with its Chinese counterparts, Sri Lanka hopes to re-establish China as one of the major East Asian destinations which will generate a similar number throughout 2023.