SEYCHELLES AND SRI LANKA SIGN TOURISM COOPERATION AGREEMENT
(Posted 30th June 2014)
The just concluded State visit by Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa saw as many as six agreements being signed between the two island countries. Last weekend did President Mahinda open a new Sri Lankan High Commission in Victoria and President James Alix Michel also announced that the Seychelles were putting final touches to the opening of their own High Commission in Colombo.
Among the agreements signed was on to strengthen tourism ties and it is an open secret that the Seychelles are in support of Sri Lanka joining the Vanilla Island Organization as the destination with the most visitor arrivals last year of any of the Indian Ocean islands. A cultural cooperation agreement too was signed as were four others including one for cooperation towards widening the use of renewable energy.
This was the fourth mutual visit after a state visit by President Michel to Sri Lanka in 2012 and the attendance last year of the Commonwealth Summit in Colombo while this was President Mahinda’s second visit to the archipelago in the space of year.
Notable does Mihin Lanka, one of the two major airlines operating from Sri Lanka, fly nonstop to Mahe, allowing for easy connections without the need to transit through a waypoint. The air link has already shown a promising trend of greater business and tourism ties between the two islands and with the new agreements signed does the business community in both countries expect yet greater benefits.
For more information about the two tourism islands visit www.seychelles.travel and www.srilanka.travel
