Sri Lanka participated successfully in the VI International Tourism Forum “Let’s Travel! 2026”, held from 10–14 June 2026 at the VDNH Exhibition Complex in Moscow, one of the largest tourism promotion events in the Russian Federation. The Sri Lankan delegation was led by Deputy Minister of Tourism of Sri Lanka, Prof. Ruwan Ranasinghe, and included nine Sri Lankan Destination Management Companies (DMCs).

The Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Dmitry Chernyshenko along with Prof. Ranasinghe inaugurated the Sri Lanka pavilion and had a very engaging discussion on the modern tourism trends.

On the sidelines of the Forum, several business networking and B2B meetings were organized to facilitate direct engagement between Sri Lankan tourism stakeholders and their Russian counterparts. Ambassador Gunasekera also hosted a special networking dinner at the official residence with the presence of Deputy Minister of Tourism, bringing together leading Russian tour operators, travel agents, media representatives, bloggers, and airline officials. The event provided a valuable platform for Sri Lankan DMCs to establish new partnerships and strengthen existing business relationships within the Russian travel trade. Sri Lanka pavilion was also awarded first place for the most creative national pavilion at the event.

The Forum, organized by Roscongress Foundation, attracted over 430,000 visitors and served as a prominent B2C and B2B tourism platform, bringing together tourism authorities, travel trade professionals, airlines, media representatives, and travelers from Russia. The event featured extensive cultural performances representing various regions of Russia and participating countries, including Sri Lanka.

Russia remained the third most important tourism source market to Sri Lanka in 2025. According to industry reports, the Russian outbound leisure travel market exceeds 13 million travelers annually, presenting significant opportunities for Sri Lanka to further expand its market share.

Along with Deputy Minister, Ambassador Shobini Gunasekera, Deputy Managing Director of the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB), Chamila Jayaratne, First Secretary/Commercial of the Embassy, Sanjeewa Bandara and Assistant Director of the SLTPB, Sasika Jayaweera participated in this event and attended meetings with the tourism stakeholders of Russia including government representatives in profiling Sri Lanka as a prominent “all year round” destination to the Russian market.

Embassy of Sri Lanka
Moscow

22 June 2026