Sri Lanka aims to make a record US$3.5 billion (RM14.5 billion) from tourism this year on the back of its improved rights record under a new government after years of ethnic war, tourism minister has said.
Tourism on the Indian Ocean island suffered heavily during a decades-long civil war that ended in 2009, but has been recovering in recent years.
John Amaratunga said the number of foreign holiday makers arriving on the island had jumped by 15 per cent to 1.5 million in the first nine months of 2016, and he expected tourism revenues to hit US$3.5 billion for the year as a whole.
He attributed the trend to an improvement in the island’s international reputation for rights following the ousting last year of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa.
“The improvement of our human rights record is something that helped achieve this growth,” Amaratunga told reporters in Colombo.
“The new government has had a very positive response from the international community and it helped the (tourism) industry.”
The new government came to power in January 2015 after promising to ensure accountability for war crimes and reparations for victims, although progress on both fronts has been slow.
