Minister of Tourism, Prasanna Ranatunga said that 11,380 tourists have arrived in the country in the first four days of the new year 2022 alone, showing the success of the promotion campaigns launched to boost the tourism industry of Sri Lanka.

Russia has the highest number of tourist arrivals with 2,032 tourists. 1809 tourists from India, 1041 from Ukraine, 775 from Germany, 709 from England, 506 from Kazakhstan, 506 from Maldives, 420 from Australia, 414 from France and 282 from Poland have arrived in the first four days of January 2022.

194,888 tourists have arrived in the country in 2021 after the reopening of the country which was closed down due to the Covid pandemic in 2020. Tourist arrivals in the country have gradually increased by 1,682 in January, 3,305 in February, 4,561 in March, 4,161 in April, 1497 in May, 1,629 in June, 2,429 in July, 5,040 in September, 22,771 in October, 44,297 in November and 89,506 in December.

The Minister pointed out that in January 2021 only 1682 tourists have visited Sri Lanka and that all those who contribute to the development of the tourism sector are partners in this success.The Minister said that in order to resolve the economic crisis caused by the collapse of the tourism industry, which is the main source of foreign exchange of the country, the tourism sector should be developed to a better level than before. He also said that it is the duty of all Sri Lankans to follow the health guidelines and obtain the prescribed dosages of the Covid vaccine.

The Minister further said that although those who make baseless allegations to achieve narrow political objectives are deliberately hiding the true information about the country's booming economy from the public, we are working hard to make the New Year the best year for the tourism industry.