Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga said nearly 1000 Russian tourists will vist Sri Lanka in the coming weeks and next month under the recently launched tourism promotional campaign between Sri Lanka and Russia.
With the recommencement of direct flights between Sri Lanka and Moscow recently after six years, more Russians are keen on reserving seats of all the flights departing Russia to Sri Lanka.
SriLanka Airlines has introduced a special ‘buy one, get one free’ offer for Russian holidaymakers to visit Sri Lanka during this summer vacation period.
The Minister said thst more Russian leisure travellers are keen to explore the numerous attractions available in Sri Lanka once the country relaxed travel regulations for inbound tourists.
In the first seven months of 2021, there had been 702 Russian tourists as the country ranked as the ninth largest source market. Last year there were 49,400 Russian tourists before Sri Lanka closed its borders in view of the COVID pandemic. Russia was the third biggest source market in 2010.
In 2019 tourist arrivals from Russia hit an all-time high with its flag carrier Aeroflot’s expansion of services to Colombo playing a key part.
That year Russia was the seventh biggest source market, with 86,549 tourists arriving, reflecting a high 34% growth in comparison to 2018.
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