Over 9,000 tourists have visited Sri Lanka since the borders were opened on January 21, the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau said.

A total of 9,629 tourists have arrived in Sri Lanka from Kazakhstan, Germany, the UK, Ukraine, Russia, India, China, Switzerland, and Canada, according to the Daily Mirror.

Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga said that discussions are underway with embassies and airlines to attract new airlines and to increase the number of existing airlines. 

He said the number of tourists visiting Sri Lanka would increase as many countries are expecting to reopen their borders as the global COVID-19 situation was coming under control.

The minister also said discussions were also underway to provide quarantine relief to tourists who have received both COVID vaccines and steps would be taken to relax the quarantine rules for Sri Lankans returning to the country as well.

Sri Lanka closed its borders for about 10 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.