Sri Lanka to promote Ramayana sites to attract Indian tourists

Sri Lanka has identified sites linked to Ramayana which will be used to promote tourism targeting India. An official from Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Jeevana Fernando said  that 50 sites linked to Ramayana have been identified to promote tourism on the island from India. He added that the island nation is diverse and has many locations which could attract pilgrims from India and also from other Buddhist countries. He said that during the last few years, Sri Lanka held several promotions in India for Ramayana tourism. Fernando added that most Indians visit Sri Lanka for leisure travel and visit at least one Ramayana site in Sri Lanka. In 2022 Sri Lanka welcomed close to 7.2 lakh tourists.

India was the top generating market with 1.23 lakh visitors visiting the Island. So far 13,759 tourists from India visited Sri Lanka in January 2023, being one of the largest markets for tourism in Sri Lanka.  “Last year and the year before we had several promotions in India for Ramayana tourism. For Buddhism promotion we live streamed the Kandy Esala Perehera in 7 languages,” Fernando said.