The Sri Lankan government said on Friday that it will double its efforts in attracting more Chinese tourists to the island nation this year so as to achieve 2.5 million tourist arrivals by 2016.

Deputy Tourism Minister Wasantha Senanayake said the government would launch fresh tourism campaigns in China this year, as China had become one of the countries topping the list of tourist arrivals in Sri Lanka.

"China has always been our close friend and a dependable partner. It is a country with the fastest growing economy. The Sri Lankan government will double its efforts to attract more Chinese tourists to visit Sri Lanka," the official told Xinhua.

Helped by growing Chinese travelers, Sri Lanka's Central Bank said last month that the island's post-war tourism industry hit a high in 2014 with unprecedented 1.5 million arrivals.

Chinese tourists to Sri Lanka kicked off the new year positively, growing by 8.9 percent in January, the Central Bank said.

In the first month of 2015, Chinese arrivals grew to 11,735 from 10,779 in January 2014, retaining their spot as the third highest source of tourists to Sri Lanka.

Local experts say China will likely overtake Britain to the second place by the end of this year as China already has the highest growth rate of travelers.
(Xinhua)