JNS: Around 50 sites related to the Ramayana epic will be used to promote tourism in Sri Lanka, primarily targeting India, along with Buddhist tourism.
Notably, with the worst currency crisis in its post-independence history, Sri Lanka is attempting to revise the sector, an official said. Assistant Director of Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Jeevana Fernando told EconomyNext that the country has identified 50 Ramayana sites and is promoting them in India as well as the United Kingdom, France, Canada, and South Africa.
“When we consider our product diversity, there are so many which could attract the pilgrims in India and also from other Buddhist countries.”
According to the media reports, India is one of the most important markets for tourism in Sri Lanka, which had a total of 13,759 visitors from India during the month of January 2023.
“Both the previous year and the year before that, we ran a number of tourism promotions in India centred on the Ramayana. In order to spread awareness about Buddhism, we broadcast a live stream of the Kandy Esala Perehera in seven different languages,” said the official adding, “This year, live streaming will be available in 20 different foreign languages.”
In 2022, there were 719,978 visitors to Sri Lanka. With 123,004 visitors from India, that country was the Island’s top source of revenue.
For their vacations, most Indians visit at least one Ramayana site in Sri Lanka. In the future, more people will travel to see Ramayana sites than Buddhist sites, he said.
“Weddings are another popular reason for Indian tourists to travel to Sri Lanka,” he added.
