Sri Lanka welcomes 1st Chinese tour groups in 3 years

STORY: Sri Lanka welcomes 1st Chinese tour groups in 3 years DATELINE: March 3, 2023 LENGTH: 00:00:30 LOCATION: Colombo CATEGORY: ECONOMY SHOTLIST: 1. various of the welcome ceremony at the country's main Bandaranaike International Airport STORYLINE: Sri Lanka's tourism authority held a ceremony on Wednesday night at the country's main Bandaranaike International Airport to welcome the first batch of Chinese tour groups in three years. Sri Lankan Tourism Minister Harin Fernando said at the airport that he was happy to receive the first tour groups from China and the South Asian country is expecting more Chinese tourists to come. Featured with beautiful scenery and friendly people, Sri Lanka is expected to receive more Chinese tourists, which is an important part of people-to-people exchanges between the two countries, said Chinese Ambassador Qi Zhenhong. Priantha Fernando, chairman of Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority, said earlier that the SriLankan Airlines would operate nine flights a week start