Sri Lanka targets 150,000 Indian arrivals this year

Mumbai, Apr 25 (UNI) Tourism industry being the fourth largest foreign exchange earner in the island nation's economy with Indians as its major tourists, the Sri Lanka Tourist Board (SLBT) is targetting at 150,000 Indian arrival this year.

''The tourism industry which has gone through many ups and downs, specially after the Tsunami had hit the island on December 26 2004, has regained its tourist arrivals, as the industry has witnessed an increase in 2005 by 7.8 per cent compared to 2004,'' SLTB Chairman Udaya Nanayakkara told reporters here this evening.

According to the statistics available, over 40 per cent of India travellers are repeat visitors and over 60 per cent are from high-end segments. In its bid to attract travel trade traffic from India, SLBT uld be further organising interactive business session with Indian travel and trade faternity in the cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore, he added.

During these sessions, 15 travel companies from Sri Lanka comprising hoteliers and tour operators will be interacting with more than 600 companies in India during the roadshows, Mr Nanayakkara added.

''From November, two A320 Boeing flights, twice a week, will be commencing from Goa to Srilanka,'' Sri Lankan Airlines Regional Chairman N Prabhakaran said.

''We target a growth of seven to eight percent with an average occupancy of 75 per cent, he added.

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