• Despite Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, there is no huge impact on the arrival of foreign tourists

By Chaturanga Samarawickrama  

Despite the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Sri Lanka is still welcoming tourists from Russia as Russia continues to be the leading market for Sri Lanka Tourism. 

The Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka (CAASL) Chairman Upul Dharmadasa said despite Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, there is no huge impact on the arrival of foreign tourists, but the number of tourists from other countries is expected to exceed the Russian and Ukrainian figures.   

He said that there are no passenger arrivals from Ukraine due to the country’s closure of its airspace for civilian flights, but  that Russia continued to be a strong market. SriLankan flights were operating between the countries. “Tourists have confidence in our country, especially the way we handled the tourists and handled the COVID-19 situation in Sri Lanka. Russia continued to be a strong market for Sri Lanka,” he said.