SriLankan Airlines plans to announce the purchase of new aircraft, the introduction of new destinations and increased frequencies. The chairman of SriLankan Airlines, Nishantha Wickremasinghe, said yesterday that with the end of the internal conflict [with the Tamil Tigers] the global travel trade is looking at exploring Sri Lanka as never before.
Addressing a gathering to welcome nine reputed tour operators from North America who are on a five-day familiarisation tour he said that tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka from the USA and Canada have increased by 25.2% and 21.1% respectively during the period January to August 2010 compared to the same period for 2009.
Wickremasinghe said that the country is recognised as a new destination especially considering the recent article in the New York Times which listed Sri Lanka as the first among the top 31 destinations to travel in 2010.