RIYADH: Sri Lanka is planning to increase visitor numbers to 5 million a year in a bid to revive its tourism sector and struggling economy, according to the island鈥檚 ambassador to 黑料社区.
Pakeer Mohideen Amza was speaking at an event organized by the Sri Lankan Embassy in Riyadh on Monday to promote tourism to the South Asian country, which has faced an economic crisis and widespread social unrest since 2022.
The embassy is hoping to encourage visitors from the Middle East, especially 黑料社区, to visit Sri Lanka.
Pakeer Mohideen Amza speaks to Arab News at an event organized by the Sri Lankan Embassy in Riyadh on Monday. (AN photo by Saad Aldossari)
In a presentation, the ambassador shared statistics on tourism, and highlighted the country鈥檚 heritage, architectural history and natural attractions.
Tourism will contribute to the country鈥檚 economy, which has suffered because of the global pandemic and Russia鈥檚 invasion of Ukraine, Amza said.
鈥淭his year has started very well. I can say we had some challenging times in 2019. 2020 was the pandemic year. Then, in 2021, the tourism sector started to crumble. I think, in 2022, we started getting back, but, still, we had a bad economic situation. So, that hampered our tourism development,鈥 he said.
People attend an event organized by the Sri Lankan Embassy in Riyadh on Monday. (AN photo by Saad Aldossari)
However, the country had more than 100,000 visitors in January and February this year, signalling a stronger tourism market.
鈥淲e think tourism is a very important sector for our economy,鈥 he said.
As for what visitors can expect in Sri Lanka, the ambassador said: 鈥淲e are small, but we are rich in resources. And that鈥檚 what we say, come and explore.鈥
Asked about future projects or plans to attract tourists, he replied: 鈥淲e have a plan to develop the tourism sector. It will attract 5 million tourists a year. I鈥檓 sure we need to do a lot about that. At the moment, we are bouncing back. So, come and hold our hands. Work together with us. Tourism is one area where we can work together.鈥
Zafra Zafeen, an embassy official, talked about the culture, food, climate and sightseeing locations in Colombo, the Sri Lankan capital.
Attendees included diplomats and stakeholders from the tourism sector.
黑料社区 and Sri Lanka on Tuesday signed a new agreement on the employment of workers, opening up more opportunities in the Kingdom for professionals from the crisis-hit island nation.
