More tourist arrivals from Maldives
Sanjeevi Jayasuriya
Peace will bring prosperity to Sri Lanka and more Maldivians will
visit this beautiful country. The tourist from the Maldives takes the
second position after Indians on arrivals and they mainly visit Sri
Lanka for the purposes of education, medical and leisure, said Managing
Director Maldivian airlines Bandhu I. Saleem.
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Maldivian airlines |
Maldivian is the national airline of the Maldives owned and operated
by Island Aviation Services Ltd. The airline promotes tourism between
the two countries. It flys five times a week from Maldives and back. The
two countries issue visa on arrival. "Over 9,000 Sri Lankans are working
in the Maldives in different cadres such as doctors, engineers,
accountants and teachers. There are 3,000 Maldivians in Colombo and most
of them stay here for education," he said.
"We are grateful for the Sri Lankan Government for the investment
made in Maldivian tourism sector. This country has also offered services
such as banking and insurance with branches of Bank of Ceylon and
Insurance Corporation. They are the evidence of the long standing
relationship", he said. In terms of trade we import vegetables and meat
from Sri Lanka for our tourist industry. We have major linkages and a
very friendly and cordial relationship between the two countries," he
said.
"The Maldivians are keen on visiting Sri Lanka as the country has
achieved peace. They like to see the Colombo city, up country including
Kandy and Nuwara Eliya and the wild life in the island. There is a very
good feedback from them. They are confident that their visit would be a
memorable one", he said.
During the conflict time no Maldivian had faced difficulties at the
check points or at the transit point. They thank the Government, Customs
and the Emigration for maintaining professionalism and courtesy. |
