Sri Lanka eyes Chinese tourism to help ease debt crisis

Sri Lanka is mulling measures to lure back Chinese tourists in a bid to alleviate an unprecedented debt crisis, its tourism minister said, as the South Asian nation tries to stabilize the economy.

Sri Lanka is mulling measures to lure back Chinese tourists in a bid to alleviate an unprecedented debt crisis, its tourism minister said, as the South Asian nation tries to stabilize the economy.

The country is targeting half a million Chinese tourists in 2024, nearly double its pre-Covid visitor levels, Tourism Minister Harin Fernando said at a press briefing in Beijing on Monday.

If each Chinese tourist spent $5,000 that could raise a figure comparable to the recent International Monetary Fund bailout, he said. “If you really look at it, tourism can get Sri Lanka out of this mess,” the minister added.