Sri Lanka is stepping up efforts to strengthen tourism ties with India, with industry leaders highlighting enhanced connectivity, cultural links and major hospitality investments as key drivers of future growth.
Speaking at the Mahasanman event organised by Zee Media Corporation Ltd, Sri Lankan tourism and hospitality executives stressed the importance of India as the island nation’s largest tourism source market and outlined plans to attract more travellers from western India, particularly Gujarat.
Sri Lankan carrier FitsAir commenced direct flights between Ahmedabad and Colombo from May 15, operating three times a week. The new service is expected to reduce travel time between the two cities from nearly nine hours with stopovers to around three hours, significantly improving connectivity between Sri Lanka and western India.
Industry representatives described Gujarat as a major untapped tourism market with strong outbound travel potential and close cultural and culinary similarities to Sri Lanka.
Kamal Munasinghe, General Manager of Cinnamon Life said India continued to be Sri Lanka’s “number one market” for tourism.
He noted that Sri Lanka welcomed around 500,000 Indian tourists last year and projected arrivals from India to grow by 20 to 25 per cent this year. While several Indian cities already have direct air links to Colombo, he said Ahmedabad represented a significant new opportunity due to the absence of previous direct connectivity.
Nalaka Amarathuga, Chief Executive Officer of the Destination Management Sector at Walkers Tours, stated that India accounted for 24 per cent of Sri Lanka’s total tourist arrivals in 2025, with more than 531,000 Indian visitors travelling to the island. Sri Lanka recorded an overall 2.36 million tourist arrivals last year.
The tourism industry is also targeting growth in the MICE sector meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions, as Sri Lanka expands its hospitality infrastructure and integrated resort offerings. A major focus of this strategy is the US$ 1.3 billion City of Dreams Sri Lanka project, developed by John Keels Holdings in partnership with Melco Resorts. The integrated resort will feature hotels, entertainment venues, gaming facilities, shopping outlets and large-scale conference infrastructure aimed at positioning Colombo as a leading regional tourism and business hub.
