Asian – Dispatch

The Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) launched a global media campaign titled ‘Sri Lanka, a Story for Every Season’ with a view to boost as a year-round tourism destination titled ‘Sri Lanka, a Story for Every Season and to achieve a surge of 700,000 tourist arrivals by the end of March.

The event was held on Friday at Cinnamon Life hotel in the presence of a group of world renowned travel influencers and bloggers under the patronage of Deputy Minister of Tourism Prof. Ruwan Ranasinghe. The SLTPB hand-picked a group of renowned international travel influencers and journalists to enhance Sri Lanka’s global brand presence. These influencers are a combined dedicated audience exceeding 2.2 million travel enthusiasts and they are assured that they will produce high-impact digital content, ensuring year-round exposure for Sri Lanka. The campaign is expected to generate over LKR 32 million worth of media coverage, significantly boosting Sri Lanka’s tourism appeal during the upcoming traditional off-season.

This dynamic campaign will spotlight Sri Lanka’s rich and diverse travel experiences, targeting potential travelers from both mainstream and emerging tourism markets, including: UK, Australia, India, Hong Kong, Portugal, USA, Canada, Spain, Brazil, Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

The focus of this campaign will be on key travel segments, including Family Travelers, Honeymooners, Solo Travelers, Female Travelers, Adventure Seekers, and Pilgrim Travelers. Prof. Ranasinghe told the international social media gathering that the Sri Lankan government recognizes tourism as a key driver for economic revival while giving it priority industry status and is actively working to support and develop this thriving sector. He added that Sri Lanka’s aim is to delight every tourist, who arrives in the country with the wide range of attractions they would remember for life time. Sri Lanka as a year-round tourist destination, offering diverse attractions of our beaches, wildlife, cultural sites, and many more, will make it an exceptional choice for foreign travelers, he said.

He further noted that in order to well satisfy foreign tourists, the government is focused on enhancing the skills and knowledge of the tourism industry workforce and related people. He also noted that “we are in the process of negotiating with global hotel chains and international investors to establish tourism ventures in Sri Lanka.

Chairman of Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) Buddhika Hewawasam and SLTPB said that tourism is not a commercial activity or a business for the government but a human activity connecting international people and creating brotherhood among nations, thus gathering and establishing communities.

“We achieve tourist arrival targets to achieve the number of people for the connectivity of a large multinational community with Sri Lanka,” he said. Hewawasam further said the nation has traditionally been positioned as a winter holiday destination in many established European Source Markets, tourist arrivals tend to decline from April to November, excluding a spike in July and August.

“In order to address this seasonal drop and establish Sri Lanka as a preferred year-round destination, this global media campaign will be launched in relevant countries, and appeal to world renowned travel bloggers to support us with their highly viewed digital v-logs. Tourism income of USD 5 billion set for 2025 is achievable with the present status and with the desired outcome,” he added.

Meanwhile Sri Lanka tourism is hoping to concentrate more on sustainable tourism and guide several new tourism ventures such as marine tourism, religious & cultural tourism, adventure tourism and some more. It is expected that the digital story tellers will spread this across the globe. Director of Public Relations Madubhani Perera, Assistant Director of International Media Chaminda Munasinghe, Director Marketing Dushan Wickramasuriya along with key tourism officials from the Ministry of Tourism and the SLTPB were also present.

Source: Ceylon Daily News