Sri Lanka Tourism to focus on technology to enhance travellers’ experience
Sri Lanka Tourism has reportedly adopted a proactive approach to harness the benefits of technology into its offering to remain competitive in the digital era by integrating technology into its operational infrastructure and has invested in value-adding IT initiatives to enhance quality of services, human resources, and the traveller experience.
Championing the National Policy priority to improve the digital footprint, Sri Lanka Tourism appointed eMarketingEye as the digital marketing agency to manage social media and digital marketing campaigns, The Morning has reported.
According to the news report, digitalisation is focused on six major pillars; heritage, scenic locations, adventure activities, wildlife and nature, Sri Lanka cuisine, and wellness. For the period January 2020 to April 2021 organic post reach has increased by 452% while 290 million impressions were created with a record 12 million views across all social media channels.
The Sri Lanka Tourism Mobile Travel App version 2.0, supported by the World Bank and ADB under the guidance of ICTA, will be launched to meet Covid-19 health protocols and will include nearly 5,000 lesser known sites, Google Maps, ticket purchases to tourist sites, ability to rate establishments, a customer experience management system, an emergency button to share location with the Tourist Police, as well as a traveler feedback survey, the news report further noted.
“Featured on the Travel App will be approximately 5,000 off the beaten track locations providing diverse experiences for the international and domestic traveller. This initiative was also carried out to support sustainable tourism and SME’s in order to build community-based tourism. As part of the strategic initiative the Sri Lanka Tourism (srilanka.travel) and SLTDA official websites will also be revamped to reflect the enhanced experience offered to our visitors. The ADB is currently assisting Sri Lanka Tourism with the content creation for the official Mobile Travel App and have invited those interested to express their interest,” Sri Lanka Tourism Chairperson Kimarli Fernando has been quoted as saying at the recently concluded Sri Lanka Investor Forum 2021.
Sri Lanka Tourism is entering a new age of technology-backed systems and offerings to cater to the post Covid traveler who will seek more contactless and unconventional forms of travel such as exploring the “work from anywhere” concept, the new report added.
OSL take:
Sri Lanka’s tourism industry was one of the fastest growing economic sectors in the country when the global Covid 19 pandemic resulted in global travel restrictions. However, the country’s tourism industry is showing signs of recovery with a steady growth in tourist arrivals to the country since the re-opening of the country’s borders early this year. Sri Lanka has been listed as a must visit destination by several leading global travel publications and the international safety certifications received by Sri Lanka’s airports have further increase the attraction of the island as an attractive travel destination in the post Covid world. It is in this backdrop that the tourism authorities have focused on an aggressive global tourism campaign further portraying the business potential in Sri Lanka’s tourism industry. Given the positive growth trends in Sri Lanka’s tourism industry, foreign businesses/investors could confidently explore the business/investment opportunities in the industry.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/05072021/Z_6 |