Colombo, May 16 (NIA) – Sri Lanka and Israel are considering launching charter flights between the two countries to attract more tourists, a statement from the Sri Lanka Tourism Ministry said here Tuesday.
While Tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka from Israel has seen a rapid growth in recent months, the Ministry said that Israeli Minister of Tourism, Yariv Levin will visit Sri Lanka later this year to further boost ties between the two nations.
Levin will arrive following an official invitation extended by Sri Lanka’s Tourism Minister John Amaratunga.
“I’m very pleased that that the Israeli Tourism Minister has accepted my invitation to visit Sri Lanka later this year. I received this confirmation a few days ago. This visit will help consolidate the rapid progress Sri Lanka Tourism has made in the Israeli outbound market in the recent past,” said Minister Amaratunga.
The two Tourism Ministers met on the sidelines of the International Mediterranean Tourism Market (IMTM) held in Tel Aviv, Israel recently where bilateral discussions were held on the development of tourism between the two countries.
During the extensive discussions one of the key impediments for growth was identified as the limited connectivity between the two countries. The Ministers decided to explore options including the introduction of charter flights to overcome the bottlenecks, the Tourism Ministry said.
