Viking Sky cruise ship calls in Colombo with 700 tourists

The luxury cruise liner Viking Sky called at the Port of Colombo yesterday, bringing around 700 international travellers to Sri Lanka, as part of its voyage from Thailand to the Maldives, adding fresh momentum to the island’s cruise tourism segment.

Handling the shore-side experience was Aitken Spence Travels, which curated a series of excursions designed to introduce the visitors to Sri Lanka’s culture, city life and scenic attractions. 

The passengers are offered a range of experiences spanning Colombo’s urban highlights as well as cultural and heritage sites, giving the travellers a snapshot of the island within the limited window typical of cruise itineraries. The arrival brought a buzz to the port as hundreds of passengers disembarked to explore the destination through organised tours.

As of March 8, Sri Lanka welcomed a total of 47,646 international visitors, bringing the cumulative tourist arrivals for the year so far to 604,301.

India dominates as the largest source market for Sri Lanka tourism, accounting for 24 percent of the total arrivals for the month. Russia ranks as the second largest tourist traffic generator (9 percent), while the UK ranks the third (9 percent).

source: Daily Mirror