(MENAFN- NewsIn.Asia) Colombo, Dec 7 (newsin.asia) - Sri Lanka's Tourism Ministry, on Thursday announced that plans were afoot to transform Colombo into a ‘Tourism Wonderland' as part of the festive season celebrations.
Despite Sri Lanka's Tourism figures projecting a weak growth in recent months, the Tourism Ministry said they were anticipating higher numbers this month due to the festive holidays.
Two signature events will take place in Colombo – Christmas Fest at the Independence Arcade from December 20 to Dec 22 and Christmas Street at Green Path from Dec 21 to Dec 23. The idea behind this event is to portray Sri Lankan food, culture, gems, handicrafts, tea, shopping and entertainment at one venue during the height of the tourist season. According to sources at Sri Lanka Tourism, this year's Fest will be a bigger and better version of last year, the Tourism Ministry said.
"To add spice to the proceedings, Christmas Fest will feature a gourmet food festival by 15 leading hotels and restaurants in Colombo with live demonstrations of different cuisines, giving visitors an opportunity to learn and experience Sri Lanka's multi-dimensional culinary scene," the Ministry said.
The international cuisine on offer will include Mongolian, Arabic, Chinese, Malaysian, Thai, Korean, Italian, Indian, Japanese, Indonesian and specialty desserts at a nominal rate. In addition, the Sri Lanka Tea Board will feature a tea tasting center with a display of the many varieties of tea available in the island.
The Christmas Street which has been organised will offer action packed entertainment from 2pm onwards till midnight for both tourists and locals alike. "The daily entertainment lineup consists of top DJs, bands, a street food festival and a shopper's paradise where some of the country's biggest retailers will be offering mega seasonal discounts on everything from clothes to motor vehicles."
Over 1.8 million tourists have arrived in the country so far this year while the government is expecting to achieve a 2.5 million arrival target by the end of 2017 and a 5 million arrival target by 2020.
According to the Central Bank, Sri Lanka has earned over 2 billion U.S. dollars from tourism so far this year.
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