Since the reopening of the country on January 21 this year, a total of 3,820 tourists have arrived in the country, the government said. A majority of 1,374 of them have arrived from Ukraine, 526 have arrived from Kazakhstan and 443 of tourists have arrived from neighboring India. This was revealed at a meeting held at the Ministry of Tourism under the patronage of Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga to review the progress of the process of reopening of the country to tourists. It was revealed that five new airlines--Fly Dubai, Air Arabia, Salam Air, Jazeera and Gulf Air--are currently launching direct flights to Sri Lanka. Minister Ranatunga said that some other airlines will also launch direct flights to Sri Lanka in the near future. The Minister said that these flights will be centered at Katunayake and Mattala Airports. The Minister also instructed the Tourism Development Authority to immediately launch a global promotion programme to attract more tourists to the country. The Minister further instructed that this promotion programme should be designed to highlight Sri Lanka not only as an attractive tourist destination but also as a safe country.