BY TTT NEWS NETWORK
KOLKATA, 26 APRIL 2023:
In a move that will be a giant stride forward to boost the local tourism, the Governor of Central Bank of Sri lanka, Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe has announced that Indian tourists visiting the island nation in Indian Ocean can pay by their own currency Indian ruppees.
The Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI), Eastern India chapter has welcomed this move.
The digital payment iterfcases between the two countries will also be interlinked, said the chief of CBSL, Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe.
In the first 23 days of this month ( April) about 13839 Indians have visited Sri lanka which is 17 percent of the total foreignger arrivals to this islands nation.
Infact India is the second most inbound resource market for Sri lanka this year so far with total 14 percent or 60,271 arrivals.
About a day ago, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, Dinesh Gunawardena have inaugurated a special cover of Sita Temple in Nuwara Eliya.This temple is believed to be mark the place of Ashok Vatika, where Sita has been kept by Ravana in the epic Ramayana which attracts hundreds of Indian Tourists every year.
The Sri lankan Tourism Board wants to promote the Ramayana Circle to the Indian tourists and add more attractions in the coming days.
Talking to the www.thetravelandtourismtimes.com, Mr. Anil Punjabi, Chairman ( East) of Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) said that it is a great news that Indian currency ( Rupee) accepted abroad officially and it shows that how India is progessing now.
“ This will make our economy stronger in the coming days and I hope that in future many more countries will also accept. Sri lanka is a fantastic country for tourism and this will give a big boost to tourim in that island country from this part of this world now,” Mr. Anil Punjabi added.
INR thus becoming a designatted currency will be used for both trade settlements and tourists visiting Sri lanka for financial transctions.
The CBSL Governor said this while speaking at a webinar on the “Economic Scenario of Sri Lanka : Current Status and Way Forward”, organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).
About 1,12,000 tourists visited in March this year, and for the first time since 2019, in the first three months of the calendar year tourists incdlow crosses over one lakhs every month.
More than 6.7 lakhs visited Sri lanka in 2022. Tourist friendly mobile apps have also been luanched.
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