Norway’s former minister of Climate and the Environment Erik Solheim says tourism from China will resume soon, adding that it is a huge opportunity for Sri Lanka.
Solheim stated that nearly 150 million tourists left China the year before the Covid pandemic.
Erik Solheim was appointed as Sri Lanka President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s International Climate Adviser in October 2022.
Earlier in December 2022, Chinese media Xinhua reported that Sri Lankan tour operators are eyeing the Chinese market in 2023.
According to the report, Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators (SLAITO) President Nishad Wijetunga said, “China is an important market for Sri Lanka.”
Stating that in 2019, Sri Lanka received over 167,000 Chinese tourists, Wijetunga said that if Sri Lanka can get a similar number of tourists in the short to medium term, it will greatly boost the industry.
The Sri Lankan tourism authority has reported that the total number of tourist arrivals for 2022 between January and Dec. 20 was 678,392.
Tourism, one of Sri Lanka’s leading foreign exchange earners, has suffered a setback due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the country’s economic and political crises.
Sri Lanka aims to attract around 1.5 million tourists in 2023 and 3 million tourists in 2024, Minister of Tourism Harin Fernando said earlier this month. (NewsWire)
150 mill tourists left China the year before covid.
Tourism from China will soon resume.
Huge opportunity for Sri Lanka.
https://t.co/nXQKiEZ0CS pic.twitter.com/XrHlUZEX3n— Erik Solheim (@ErikSolheim) January 2, 2023