Tourist arrivals from Maldives increase in Sri Lanka

Maldivian tourist arrivals in Sri Lanka has increased by 86.3 percent in October 2013, compared to the corresponding period last year.

According to a tourism news website, 6,538 Maldivian tourists visited Sri Lanka in October 2013, and 46,805 Maldivians visited Sri Lanka during the first 10 months of this year.

According to Sri Lanka’s Tourism Promotion Bureau, this puts Maldives among the top 5 markets from where Sri Lanka received the highest number of tourists during October 2013.

The top five sources of tourist arrivals in October 2013 were India, UK, Middle East, Germany and the Maldives, reported the paper.

Assistant Director at the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau Yuwaraj Athukorala said that the prime reason for the growth in the Maldivian tourist arrivals in Sri Lanka, is good air travel connectivity between the two destinations.

Direct flights are operated daily between Male’ and Colombo by Sri Lankan Airlines and Emirates.