Sri Lanka Tourism app to be launched by end March
The Morning: Sri Lanka Tourism app developed with the support of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) is to be launched towards the end of March, said Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) Chairman, Chalaka Gajabahu.
He made these remarks, during the media briefing held at Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management (SLITHM) recently.
“This first ever national app which is now 70-75% work is completed and hopefully would coincide with our (Sri Lanka Tourism promotion) global launch or prior to the global launch.”
Speaking about this app, Gajabahu said that this app provides information needed for a tourist who visits Sri Lanka with 250 videos and 3,000+ pictures which depict tourist attractions from cultural locations such as Ramayana Trail to wellness.
“There is other information such as helplines, Sri Lanka Police,” he added.
SLTPB Chair noted that Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators (SLAITO), The Hotel Association of Sri Lanka (THASL) and Destination Management Companies (DMCs) have also been consulted in this regard.
“When the tourists purchase a ticket to Sri Lanka, they can either download the app or install the app through QR code displayed at airports. However, this is merely the first step only,” he elaborated.
Gajabahu further stated that the SLTPB also looks forward to commercialising the app through banners at the second stage.
He said the development of the app initiated as the card usage is gradually decreasing as most of them are on the phone. Thereby, even the payments are not made via credit/ debit but through a QR code.
In a recently issued statement by the SLTDA, its Chairman Priantha Fernando said: “This data will aid in creating targeted tourism products and the app will support multiple languages, including English, German, French, Russian, and Chinese.”
OSL take:
Sri Lanka’s tourism industry has become a fast growing economic sector in the country while becoming a key revenue generator for the country. Local tourism authorities while exploring new tourism concepts to be promoted in traditional and new tourist source markets, is confident that the new app would push the tourism industry to the next level enabling the surpassing of already set targets. All these movements have resulted in the expansion of business/investment opportunities in Sri Lanka’s tourism industry. These opportunities are mainly in the leisure and hospitality sectors as well as in the development of infrastructure and supplementary infrastructure facilities required by the industry to meet the steadily growing demand in the tourism industry. The growing business potential in Sri Lanka’s tourism industry is not lost on foreign businesses/investors as many foreign leisure and hospitality brands have expressed interest in entering the country’s tourism industry. The local tourism industry therefore presents lucrative business/investment opportunities to foreign businesses/investors looking at doing business in Sri Lanka.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/20240226/Z_6 |