Colombo, July 10: Indians are emerging as the number one spenders and the biggest single group of tourists to visit Sri Lanka, officials here said today. India beat Britain last year to become the biggest tourism market for Sri Lanka which extended visa-on-arrival for nationals from South Asia, a privilege earlier reserved for some western and south-east Asian nations.

The Hotel Owners Association here said that Indians were spending about 200,000 rupees (about 2,000 dollars) during their holiday in Sri Lanka while the average spending by a tourist was about 60,000 rupees (just above 600 dollars).
Nearly 70,000 Indians visited Sri Lanka last year, or a 106 per cent increase over the previous year, the Ceylon tourist board said.

A tourism ministry secretary P Ramanujam said that the restriction on the number of flights Sri Lanka could operate to India was hindering a further increase in tourist arrival.

However, he said the Colombo government has proposed to India that it allow its private domestic airlines to operate to Sri Lanka. "We have no problem in allowing Indian Private Airlines to operate flights to Colombo," Ramnanujam said. "The Indian authorities have been very receptive and we hope we will have a positive response."

Bureau Report