Sri Lanka kicks off biggest tourism promotion following Easter attacks at World Travel Market in London
The government of Sri Lanka is to launch a massive on-site tourism promotion at the three-day World Travel Market (WTM) in London that commences today. It is expected be the largest on-site tourism promotion carried out by Sri Lanka following the Easter Sunday tragedy in April this year.
The fresh push for destination marketing has got a big boost as Sri Lanka is the Premier Partner at the WTM, the leading global event for the travel industry, attended by over 50,000 international travel trade professionals, the Daily FT has reported.
The Premier Partnership deal with WTM London will mean thousands of international travel trade professionals and buyers will see the new ‘So Sri Lanka’ branding and hundreds of journalists and influencers will hear about the country’s culture, scenery and heritage. This year WTM marks its 40th anniversary, the report notes.
A large industry delegation comprising over 60 companies and 160 personnel led by Sri Lanka’s Tourism Minister John Amaratunga is on show at the Sri Lanka Pavilion at the WTM. Today afternoon Sri Lanka will host a media briefing titled ‘Resilient & Strong Sri Lanka’ for the benefit of international media covering WTM.
Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner in UK Manisha Gunasekara, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) Managing Director Charmarie Maelge and WTM Director Simon Press will be present at the opening of the Sri Lanka Pavilion.
Minister Amaratunga is to also figure in a WTM panel discussion titled ‘Taking Responsibility for Safety & Security’ along with South Africa Tourism Acting CEO Sthembiso Dlamini and UK’s leading association of travel agents and tour operators ABTA Director of Destinations and Sustainability Nikki White, the Daily FT report has added.
According to SLTPB, the high-profile partnership with WTM will ensure global coverage for Sri Lanka, which has also teamed with legendary Sri Lankan batsman and the current MCC Chairman Kumar Sangakkara to help tourism bounce back.
SLTPB is to share its exhibition space at WTM London (Stand AS200) with 68 travel trade partners, including hotels, travel agencies, resorts and operators – all united in their mission to help the country rebuild its tourism trade.
According to the local media, with over 250,000 arrivals (in 2018), the UK is the third largest source market for Sri Lanka tourism. In the first nine months of this year, UK was the second the largest source market though arrivals had dipped by 18.5% to 153,000.
OSL take:
Sri Lanka’s tourism industry has shown an impressive return to normalcy following the setback suffered in the Easter Sunday attacks in April. Tourist arrivals to the country have shown an increase in the past few months along with the inflow of foreign investments to the sector. Sri Lanka continues to maintain the top slot as the destination of the year in several key global travel publications. All these have resulted in the expansion of business/investment opportunities in Sri Lanka’s tourism industry.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/20191107/Z_2 |