Air China, one of China’s largest airlines, is set to launch daily flight operations to Sri Lanka, starting from October 2024 wooing more Chinese tourist to visit Sri Lanka. The announcement was made by former Tourism Minister Harin Fernando on X (formerly Twitter).
Sri Lanka Tourism is setting its sights on welcoming one million Chinese travellers over the next four years through the ‘China Project’.
Sri Lanka is crafting a new tourism strategy, aiming to build on a promising 2023 by honing its advertising message, wooing digital nomads and raising per-traveler revenue. It may even have a chance to capitalize on shifting geopolitical winds amid tensions between neighboring India and the Maldives.
The South Asian Island welcomed over 1.48 million visitors last year — roughly double that of 2022, when the country defaulted on sovereign debt, suffered severe shortages and saw protests topple the government. Buoyed by glowing tourism features in international magazines like Forbes and Conde Nast Traveler, the country is hoping for at least 2.3 million in 2024.
Sri Lanka is making an aggressive push to recapture the Chinese tourist market. Sri Lankan authorities have now encouraged countless Chinese trip specialists to visit the country, during a discussion had with a few Chinese journalists who visited Sri Lanka recently.
Sri Lanka Tourism promotion bureau said that the Chinese market is one of the key markets which bring large number of tourists to the country each year.
The airline’s move represents a significant increase in connectivity between the two nations, as Air China only recently resumed its flights to Sri Lanka, following a brief hiatus.
In July 2024, the airline restarted its operations with three weekly flights from Chengdu Tianfu International Airport to Colombo’s Bandaranaike International Airport.
The inaugural flight on July 3, 2024, carried 142 passengers, marking the airline’s return to the island nation.
The decision to increase the frequency of flights is expected to provide a timely boost to air connectivity to further strengthen tourism and trade ties between both countries, with China emerging as one of Sri Lanka’s key tourism markets in recent months.
The provisional data from the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority showed that from January 01 to September 17, 2024, 92,566 tourists arrived from China. This makes China the fifth largest tourist traffic generator for the island nation.
As a member of the Star Alliance and one of the ‘Big Three’ airlines in mainland China, Air China has an extensive network of domestic and international routes through its operations primarily from Beijing Capital International Airport.
Headquartered in Beijing’s Shunyi District, the airline showcased its global prominence by transporting over 102 million passengers in 2017 alone.
