Resume India-Jaffna flights to attract tourists: Sri Lankan PM to tourism authorities

To attract Indian tourists to its neighbouring island nation, the Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has asked tourism authorities to draw up plans and resume flights from Jaffna to India. The Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority said it has plans to attract 800,000 tourists during the rest of the year. Prime Minister Wickremesinghe instructed to resume flights from Jaffna's Palaly airport to Indian destinations to facilitate travel. This was discussed during a meeting held with the industry stakeholders.

India in May re-emerged as Sri Lanka's top inbound tourist market with 5,562 arrivals while over 3,723 came from the UK. However, the total number of international tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka in May plunged by almost 52 percent, in comparison to April and 72 percent in comparison to March.

The tourist arrivals have lessened due to the effects of the current economic and political situation in the country with main market countries issuing adverse travel advisories.

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Sri Lanka is currently facing its worst economic crisis since independence from Britain in 1948. The economic crisis has prompted an acute shortage of essential items like food, medicine, cooking gas and other fuel, toilet paper, and even matches, with Sri Lankans being forced to wait in lines lasting hours outside stores to buy fuel and cooking gas.

The island nation's economic downturn was largely blamed on the Covid-19 pandemic with the island nation's tourism revenue and inward remittances waning. 

(With inputs from PTI)

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