For the New Year holidays, Sri Lanka has opened for a "dosed" Russian tourist flow. The country's two international airports, Bandaranaike Airport and Mahinda Rajapaksa, are partially opened from December 29 to January 16 to host Russian tourists.

The opening of Sri Lanka borders was planned for July 15, but then the date was postponed to August 1. The recent outbreak of coronavirus at a local center is likely to adjust the dates again.

Foreign tourist flow to Sri Lanka in the first quarter of 2020 decreased by 31,5% (to 507,3 thousand people) compared with the same period a year earlier, while Russia entered the TOP-3.

Tour operators believe that the introduction of preliminary electronic visas by the Sri Lankan authorities will not have a significant impact on the flow of tourists to the country.

According to the results of 2019, the tourist flow from Russia to Sri Lanka increased by 34,2%, setting a historical record. Last year, the arrivals of the Russians exceeded for the first time the best pre-crisis figures of 2014.

The Sri Lankan diplomatic mission in Moscow confirmed that they were informed on the extension of the free entry format, which was introduced in August 2019.

On February 19, tour operators spoke about an alternative for the island of Hainan that they are ready to offer Russian tourists.

The tourist flow to Sri Lanka from Russia in 2019 reached a historic maximum, exceeding 86,5 thousand people.

The situation with tourism in Sri Lanka is beginning to improve. Russia is the only country, the arrival of tourists from which showed growth.

The desire to spend the New Year on exotic islands is increasing among Russians despite on the economic situation. A lot of hotels offer accommodation for New Year dates on favorable conditions.

Russia was the only country in October, the arrival of tourists from which showed growth. The growth of Russian tourists in Sri Lanka in October amounted to 86%, these are 5 761 Russians who chose the beaches of this island for holidays.

Experts note a recovery of demand for Sri Lankan destination after a series of terrorist attacks that occurred in April of this year.

Tui Russia has changed the previously announced flight program to Colombo Airport.

In mid-October tour operators named the most popular destinations for the November holidays. At the peak of popularity are Turkey, the UAE, Cyprus, Italy, Israel, Jordan, Sri Lanka and Cuba.

The second major “charter player” has appeared on the Sri Lankan destination this winter season. The tour operator Tui Russia told details about its charter program for this island and hotel assortment in Sri Lanka.

The interest of Russian tourists in holidays in Sri Lanka has grown significantly due to lower prices in hotels and the abolition of visas. Tourist flow is recovering from the April attacks on the island. 

Minister of tourism and religion of Sri-Lanka declared that the country would start issuing visas on arrival for tourists of 45 countries, including Russia. The measure has been taken because of the serious decline of tourists' flow after the terrorists’ attack in April 2019. Initially it was planned to start on 01.05.2019, but it was paused on security reasons. The new visa rules entered into force on 01.08.2019 and act during six months.

Aeroflot Airlines has notified partners about the cancellation of the flight program to Colombo from the beginning of September till the end of October 2019. The carrier offers passengers a refund, tour operators are looking for alternative flights. 

ANEX Tour operator will increase the number of flights to Sri Lanka. The departures from Moscow are scheduled twice a week since October 26, from Yekaterinburg – each 13 night. Transportation from St. Petersburg is added for the first time - once in 12 nights. “The past season has shown excellent results, in connection with this fact it was decided to expand the flight program,” the tour operator informed.

“Airplanes of Rossia Airlines (part of Aeroflot Group) resume direct flights on the route Moscow (Sheremetyevo) – Colombo (Sri Lanka),” the press-service of the airline reported. “The direct flights to the biggest city of Sri Lanka are conducted from Sheremetyevo International Airport.

Sri Lanka’s tour operators are slashing hotel rates and pushing promotions in key markets like Russia to woo visitors back to its deserted beaches after deadly Easter bombings battered the island country’s tourism industry, Business Standard reports. 

In the first quarter of 2019 the Russian tourist flow to the exotic island destinations of the Indian Ocean continued to grow. In total, for the first quarter of 2019 73,764 tourists from the Russian Federation visited the exotic island destinations of the Indian Ocean - the Seychelles, Maldives, Mauritius and Sri Lanka, which is 14.57% more than a year earlier.

According to the schedule on the Aeroflot website, the flights operated by Rossia Airlines (part of Aeroflot group) from Moscow to Colombo (Sri Lanka) and Denpasar (Indonesia, Bali Island), will be canceled after May 11 until July 2019. Tourists are offered a refund "within 30 days."