British travel magazine names Sri Lanka top travel

Sri Lanka has been recommended as a top destination by a popular British travel magazine boosting its post-war tourism boom, authorities said here on Monday. Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority, the government regulator and facilitator of tourism, said that Britain's Cond Nast Traveler has nominated Sri Lanka as one of the top five destinations to watch in year 2012. The travel experts of the magazine have predicted that Sri Lanka will be among the hottest new holiday destinations for travelers in the coming year. It follows National Geographic nominating the country among its top six for this year. Sri Lanka has been placed third in the list of destinations ahead of Britain and Australia. Sri Lanka's tourism has seen strong growth after the end of a three decade war in 2009. It hopes to attract 950,000 tourists this year and is targeting 2.5 million by 2016.