100,000th Chinese tourist arrival at BIA

Text and Pic by Airport Corr Kumarasiri Prasad

Sri Lanka Tourism marked the historic 100,000th Chinese tourist arrival at the Bandaranaike International Airport yesterday.

The Chinese couple arrived as part of a 25 member tourist delegation. They arrived in the country on board Sri Lankan airlines' UL 867 at 5.30 Saturday morning and was welcomed by the Sri Lanka Tourism officials.

Sri Lanka has seen a boom in Chinese tourist arrivals following the intense tourism promotions campaigns organised there under the direction of Economic Development Ministry. China, which was not even among the 10 countries sending most number of tourists to Sri Lanka has assumed the 3rd place by today.

The travel agency the couple arrived here had developed, business links with a local counterpart The two tourists were offered a free five day package in Sri Lanka, which included the air-tickets and star class hotel accommodation.

The tourist arrivals from China has increased by 140% and in 2005 the number of arrivals were only 9, 668. Bi-lateral tourism has seen rapid development following the high profile visits of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Chinese leader Xi Jin Ping