Sri Lanka Tourism unveils Rs. 1.6 billion PR and digital campaign to boost visitor numbers
Daily FT: The Sri Lanka Tourism Promotions Bureau (SLTPB) Chairman Chalaka Gajabahu confirmed that the tenders, amounting to a total of Rs. 1.6 billion have been awarded to roll out the extensive campaign targeting key source markets.
“We have now completed awarding all the tenders for public relations and digital marketing campaigns,” he told the Daily FT.
He acknowledged the delay in implementation and said that the move is seen as a significant step towards boosting the tourism industry, which is recognised as a key sector contributing immensely to the economy.
Gajabahu detailed the allocation of funds: Rs. 600 million for public relations (PR) and Rs. 1 billion for digital campaigns. The budget breakdown for individual markets includes; Rs. 100 million for PR and Rs. 200 million for digital campaigns in the UK, Germany, France and India. For China, the allocation is Rs. 150 million for PR and Rs. 200 million for digital campaign.
He said the move will help in securing maximum amount of reservations for the upcoming winter season that the industry is longing for.
Additionally, he said more funds will be allocated for Scandinavia, the Middle East, Australia, South Korea and Japan as the market-specific approach commences.
“We are adopting a market-specific approach, requiring individual agencies to apply from each market segment,” Gajabahu explained.
The marketing communication roadmap will be executed in a strategic, phased manner, tailored to the booking patterns of key markets.
“A special report detailing the awarding process is expected to be published early next week,” he added.
Sri Lanka’s ambitious goals for the tourism sector include; attracting 2.3 million tourists and generating over $ 4 billion in revenue this year,” he added.
Looking further ahead, the country aims to welcome 5 million visitors by 2030, with an impressive target of $ 21.6 billion in earnings. The strategy also focuses on increasing average spending per visitor to $ 4,000, with 2.5 million high-end tourists expected to spend over $ 500 per day.
OSL take:
Sri Lanka’s tourism industry has become one of the fastest growing industries as well as one of the key revenue generators for the country. The steady growth in the industry has been attributed to the aggressive promotional campaigns carried out by local tourism authorities in overseas markets that also included a media campaign that resulted in Sri Lanka being identified as a must visit destination by leading global travel publications. Therefore, the proposed new PR campaign would further expand the tourism industry. The expanding tourism industry therefore presents a host of new business/investment opportunities. The promotional campaigns also presented opportunities for both foreign and local businesses or collaborations. However, some of the key business/investment opportunities in the tourism industry are in the development of infrastructure and supplementary infrastructure facilities required by the expanding industry. Also, the leisure and hospitality sectors have become a lucrative business/investment opportunity for foreign businesses/investors. The lucrative nature of the business has captured the attention of many international leisure and hospitality brands that have expressed interest in doing business with Sri Lanka. Given the growth and business potential in Sri Lanka’s tourism industry, foreign businesses/investors could confidently explore the expanding opportunities in the industry.