RIYADH/JEDDAH — Sri Lanka has drawn up a plan to attract more Saudi and other Arab tourists, especially families.
“We’ve the kind of infrastructure that Saudi families look forward to, whether in terms of service apartments or attractions like beaches, greenery, warm hospitality, and competitively priced hotel accommodation. We also meet their requirements like mosques, halal food, and Arabic tourist literature, guides and nannies,” the island state’s deputy minister of tourism, Faiszer Musthapha, told Arab News on the sidelines of a presentation given at an iftar party at Crowne Plaza Hotel in Jeddah on Thursday.
The island expects a higher number of tourists from this part of the world in 2005 and 2006. In 2004, it received 550,000 visitors from the world over, 10,000 of them from the Middle East. Saudis constituted only 3,500 to 4,000 of them.
“We see a great potential as a tourist resort, especially when Far Eastern countries like Malaysia and Thailand with similar facilities have been getting a higher number of Saudi tourists,” he said.
The island expects 650,000 Middle East tourists will have visited it by this yearend.
“We want 20,000 tourists from the Kingdom to visit us next year,” Mustapha said.
Some Saudi investors have also been showing interest in the island’s tourism infrastructure development. Five-star luxurious Colombo Hilton Hotel is one of the major projects in which a prominent Saudi investor is involved.
Sri Lanka has also been stamping visas for Saudis at the island’s entry points. “We offer a 30-day visa to Saudis on arrival,” said Musthapha, who is leading a delegation of 13 tour operators.
The team ends its tour of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia with its last presentation in Dammam today.
Launching the island’s first “Destination Sri Lanka” program at Minhal Holiday Inn Hotel in Riyadh on Tuesday, Musthapha said SriLankan Airlines will offer special air fares for its nationals in the Kingdom to travel to Colombo to cast their votes in the forthcoming presidential elections on Nov. 17.
“This is a special offer made by the government through its national carrier in recognition of the services rendered by its expats through remittances,” he said.
Members of Saudi Arabia’s 500,000-strong Sri Lankan community are still seeking to be allowed to cast their votes from the Kingdom. Thirteen candidates including Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse and opposition keader Ranil Wickremsinghe are contesting the presidency.
Reza Yusuf, new country manager of the airline, said he is offering a discount of 50 percent of the market fare for those who go home for the polls during the election week.
Only those 18 years old and above with valid Sri Lankan passport may apply for the discount.
