Sri Lanka is aiming for a growth of 20 per cent in international tourist arrivals to about 2.4 million in the current 2018-19 fiscal.
"In FY18, the number of international travellers in Sri Lanka was two million and this year, we expect it to become 2.4 million," Sri Lanka Convention Bureau Chairman Kumar De Silva said here today.
He said business travellers would account for just 10 per cent of the total number of visitors, but the country is now focusing on travellers for business purposes.
Out of the two million visitors, India accounted for about three lakh tourists to the island nation, he said.
Lalit Peris, Country Manager of Sri Lankan Airlines, which operates 122 direct flights per week from 14 Indian destinations to Colombo, said there are no plans for expansion even though the India business is a profitable one.
However, during the festive season of Durga Puja, the airline plans to increase one more flight to four flights per week from Kolkata.
A number of city-based real estate and FMCG companies are active in Sri Lanka.
Silva said tourism is one of the top foreign exchange revenue earners for the country, and it could become the largest in the future.
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