Tourist arrivals for the first five months last year amounted for 157,000 and compared to this number the tourist arrivals during the first five months this year amounted to 233,000 showing an increase of 48.5 percent compared to the same period last year.
This massive increase in the tourist arrivals has been possible following an intensive tourist promotion campaigned launched by the Government in several foreign countries and through popular media channels including CNN, Aljazeera, and National Geographic Channel.
The peaceful atmosphere prevalent in the country following the defeat of terrorism also gave a massive boost to this upsurge in tourism.
Media personnel from National Geographic Channel and leading publications such as New York Times visited Sri Lanka and made first hand investigations on the tourist facilities and scenic, cultural, historical locations, and food varieties attractive to tourists in Sri Lanka.
Following such visits the National Geographic Channel named Sri Lanka as the second most attractive place to visit while the New York Times named Sri Lanka as the best among the 32 most attractive tourist locations in the world.
Tourist arrivals in Sri Lanka last year amounted to 450,000 tourists and the Government targets to increase this number to 600,000 by end of this year.
The Government is confident that this target can be easily achieved with the ongoing projects being launched to improve infrastructure facilities, room facilities and beautification.
source - www.dailynews.lk
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