There has been a 400 per cent surge in the number of tourists travelling to Sri Lanka from Bahrain this year, the Gulf Daily News in Bahrain said. 

Sri Lankan Ambassador Saj Mendis told the newspaper that there had been a more than four-fold increase in bookings in 2016, compared with last year.

He expects the figure to rise even further next year after SriLankan Airlines relaunched direct operations to Bahrain.

"During the last 12 months, tourism from Bahrain to Sri Lanka has increased by over 400 per cent compared with the corresponding period in 2014-2015," he said.

"Earlier last year it was just about 2,900 tourists from Bahrain to Colombo annually.

"But now we have at least 1,000 tourists travelling to Colombo from Bahrain every month and, by the close of this year, we are expecting the total number (for 2016) to be between 13,000 and 14,000.

"Next year this number is expected to reach 25,000, especially with the direct flights of SriLankan Airlines operating at convenient timings."

Sri Lanka's flagship carrier launched five flights a week to Bahrain in October, increasing to daily flights during peak season.

It is in line with government moves to support growth in Sri Lanka's tourism sector, which has been on the rise since the country's military defeated the Tamil Tigers in 2009 -- bringing to an end more than 25 years of violence.