Sri Lanka encourages cruise line tourists

_{Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, along with the officials of Sri Lanka Port Authority, welcoming the vessel ‘Arcadia’ yesterday(02nd), at a brief ceremony held in the Colombo harbour.}

Sri Lanka is encouraging cruise ship stop overs as an addition to its booming post-war tourism boom, a statement said here on Friday.

The Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau said in a statement that they along with the officials of the Sri Lanka Port Authority, welcomed the Carnival PLC luxury cruise liner ‘Arcadia’ with 2, 100 tourists onboard at the Colombo Harbor.

“We are hoping to encourage more cruise liners to dock in Sri Lanka to make use of its many harbors and strategic location,” the statement said.

Sri Lanka hopes to attract over one million tourists this year and reach 2.5 million by 2016.

The government is encouraging more hotels to fast track their construction so that enough rooms will be available for the influx of travelers.

Shangri-la, Hyatt, Sheraton and South Africa’s Sun City have already expressed interest in starting hotel projects in the island nation.

Sri Lanka is hoping to earn 1 billion U.S. dollars in foreign direct investments from the booming tourism industry this year, Xinhua reports.