Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau launches special promotional campaign in India
Tourism authorities in Sri Lanka have reportedly launched a special promotional campaign in India with the aim of wooing Indian tourists to the island to overcome the negative impact suffered by the country’s tourism industry following the Easter Sunday attacks.
The Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) along with the Sri Lanka Inbound Tour Operators Association (SLAITO) and SriLankan Airlines have reportedly unveiled a total of 15 special promotional packages to Indian travel trade in Mumbai with a guest appearance by Sri Lankan-born Bollywood actress Jacqueline Fernandez.
The promotional campaign has now moved to New Delhi.
The Sri Lankan delegation is headed by the country’s Tourism Development Minister John Amaratunga.
The latest promotion also involved the Indian media.
“We had a successful launch of our special promotional package in Mumbai. We also met with over 60 media personnel and a similar number of Indian travel agents and tour operators. Sri Lanka Tourism is hopeful that this campaign will bring us good results,” SLTPB Chairman Kishu Gomes has told the English language Daily FT.
India is Sri Lanka’s largest tourism market which accounted 18.2% to 424,887 arrivals last year, an increase of 10.5% from a year earlier.
According to reports, the special offer is up and running from 10 June till 30 November and is available for reservations through travel agents network in India.
Accordingly, there will be 15 different offerings as there are five different packages in three varying categories ranging from standard, superior to deluxe starting from US$ 180 per person, the industry targets 32 flights per week from 11 destinations in India to Sri Lanka with an average of 150 passengers per day.
Also, national carrier SriLankan Airlines has reportedly commenced a comprehensive package which includes air fare, hotel accommodation on B&B basis, transport as specified in the itinerary and the service fee of the tour operator.
OSL take:
Sri Lankan tourism authorities have launched several promotional campaigns to woo foreign tourists back into the country following the negative impact suffered by the Easter Sunday attacks. Sri Lanka has given prominence to Indian and Chinese markets since the two countries are key tourist source markets for the island nation. Tourist arrivals are once again on the increase and several international airlines have announced the resumption of flights to Colombo. Meanwhile, the government of Sri Lanka has also introduced a relief package to the tourism sector that has benefited stakeholders who are in the process of upgrading their facilities. Therefore, Sri Lanka’s tourism sector is to bounce back within 12 months. Hence, foreign businesses/investors could explore business/investment opportunities in Sri Lanka’s tourism sector.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/26062019/Z_1 |