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." 

Since April 23, travel service providers have suspended the sale of new tours and ground handling services in Sri Lanka - but there is no demand for them. At the same time, tourists who have already bought tours to this country are not in a hurry to cancel their paid reservations.

The charter flight programs of tour operators to Sri Lanka start in late October. The programs were announced by two tour operators: ANEX Tour and Coral Travel. ANEX Tour will fly to Sri Lanka from Moscow with a frequency of one time per 10/11 nights, and since December 28, 2018 a second chain has been added once in 10/11 nights.

Sri Lanka this year notes the growth of the Russian tourist flow - despite currency fluctuations. The new direct flights of Aeroflot increased the demand to Sri Lanka and tour operators say about the good load of charters. According to official statistics of Sri Lanka, from January to August 2018 this country was visited by almost 40.5 thousand Russians.

History dating back to the birth of time - Island of magic and holiday experiences - 1,330 km of coastline much of it pristine beach - Heritage, Culture and Patrimony - Extraterrestrial structures? -  World Class Producers - Hi-Tech and Quality Garments – The land of the Ayurveda 

The Russian tourist flow to Sri Lanka for the first 5 months of 2018 increased by 14.5%. According to tour operators, the direction in the upcoming winter season 2018/2019 will show an increase of 20%. According to the Ministry of Tourism of Sri Lanka, in January-May almost 37 thousand Russians visited the country.

Tour operator ANEX Tour was the first to open sales of tours to Sri Lanka for the winter season 2018-19. The company is planning to increase the frequency of departures from Moscow and regions. The flight program of the tour operator to Sri Lanka is still being formed, now it is considered an increase of the frequency of flights from Moscow for particular dates - due to the stable demand for direction.

“Sri Lanka was visited by 59.1 thousand Russian tourists in 2017, which is 2% more than a year ago”, - said the third secretary of the Embassy of the Republic of Sri Lanka in Russia Upul Priyanta. According to him, Russia is among the TOP 10 countries whose citizens most often choose Sri Lanka as a place of rest. At the same time, most tourists come to the island from India, China and the United Kingdom.

“Sri Lanka intends to support tourist charters from Russia, but we have no specific measures reported yet”, - the press service of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR) said with reference to the representatives of the state authorities of the country. The representative of the state bureau for the promotion of tourism of Sri Lanka Enoka Gayatri said that the government of the country has plans for state support of charter flights.