‘Raid Amazone’, the largest tourism program of the country after the global pandemic, will be held in Sri Lanka with the participation of 600 athletes. It will be organized in two rounds in March and April in this year. The first round will be held from March 14 to 22 and the second round will be from March 28 to April 6.

It was revealed at a media briefing held yesterday (08) that this will be implemented in the Kaudulla, Madirigiriya, Wewala, Kandalama, Sigiriya, Mahawilgamuwa. 253 competitors and 63 staff participate in the first round and 216 competitors and 63 staff participate in the second round. The staff crew includes six doctors, supplying staff, rescue swimmers, photographers and videographers.

Raid Amazone is a popular annual adventure sports series that originated in France. It includes running, rowing, mountain biking, walking across a rough road with a map and a compass, and archery. Sri Lankan Airlines is the host airline for this year's tournament. Sigiriya is the theme icon at this time. A special uniform has been designed for this highlighting the unique features of Sigiriya Rock Fortress. Sri Lankan Airlines has decorated a special aircraft to bring foreign athletes to Sri Lanka to participate in this tournament.

Addressing the media briefing, Hon. Minister of Tourism Prasanna Ranathunga stated that the selection of Sri Lanka for this program was a message to the world that Sri Lanka is a safe country for tourists. He believed that this would attract a large global audience and also attract tourists beyond Europe. Further, the Minister emphasized that the tourism industry of the country is gradually recovering and the industry needs to be brought to a higher level than it was before the pandemic in order to overcome the economic crisis of the country.

French Ambassador to Sri Lanka, H.E, Eric Lavatu, Secretary to the Ministry of Tourism, Mr. S. Hettiarachchi, Chairman of the Sri Lankan Airlines Ltd, Mr. Ashok Pathirage and others were present at the media briefing.