Two million tourists and a revenue of US $ 06 billion expected in 2024 – Minister of State for Tourism Diana Gamage

State Minister for Tourism Diana Gamage, predicts that the revitalization of the tourism industry in Sri Lanka will attract 2 million tourists in 2024, generating an estimated revenue of US $ 6 billion.

She made these remarks during a press conference held at the Presidential Media Centre (PMC) under the theme ‘Collective path to a stable country’, on Friday (12).

The State Minister said that there was a revival in the country’s tourism industry after a three-year period, due to the successful measures implemented to promote tourism. She said that 1.4 million tourists visited Sri Lanka in 2023 which was 106% more than the previous year (2022) and measures were underway to attract 2 million tourists in 2024 and reiterated that the expected revenue from the tourism industry in 2024 was US $ 6 billion.

She said that there were challenges such as ticket price hikes at tourist attractions due to arbitrary actions by some government agencies. She said that the Ministry was not informed of these price hikes before hand and that Minister Harin Fernando in discussion with President Ranil Wickremesinghe would address the issues.

The state minister also revealed that special projects were in the pipeline to enhance tourist convenience at cultural sites, waterfalls, Ella, Bandarawela and other tourist areas across the country.