Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau to launch CNN advertising campaign to attract foreign travelers
The Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) has reportedly made preparations for a US$ 650,000 CNN advertising campaign to attract foreign travelers from all over the world to reach the 2.5 million tourist arrival target Sri Lanka has set for this year.
“We really need an immediate international marketing campaign to counter the impacts of exaggerated reports about the country,” President, The Hotels Association of Sri Lanka (THASL), Sanath Ukwatte has told Daily FT.
He has said the industry stakeholders had categorically requested Tourism Development Minister John Amaratunga to also have advertising campaigns on international television channels such as CCTV, NDTV and Al-Jazeera, which are telecasted in key markets such as China, India and the Middle Eastern countries where the tourism traffic was most affected.
“The Minister has agreed to our request. We hope that the advertising campaigns in other channels will also be in a position to kick-off next month as well,” Ukawatte has added.
Meanwhile, the Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators (SLAITO) President, Harith Perera referring to the cancellation of bookings due to recent clashes in the Kandy District has said that they haven’t done a structured assessment.
However, he has said that they felt the Asian market was most affected.
“The Kandy issue was unfortunate, but the authorities did well to mitigate the negative impact and avoid further damage. This calls for the global advertising campaign to be expedite it,” Perera has said.
OSL take:
The marketing campaign to be launched with CNN is part of Sri Lanka’s aggressive campaigning to promote Sri Lanka as a tourist destination globally. Sri Lanka has already recorded a continuous growth in tourist arrivals to the country in the past few years. However, the latest marketing campaign would undoubtedly bring positive results to the tourism and leisure sector in Sri Lanka. Therefore, it would be an opportune moment for investments in the country’s tourism sector.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/20180326/Z_10 |