SRI LANKA: Destination Sri Lanka’ At Vakantiebeurs 2016

Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau together with nine industry members are currently at the largest tourism fair Vakantiebeurs 2016 in The Netherlands promoting the Island among Dutch Tourism Trade and Dutch Travellers.

The Vakantiebeurs fair is the largest travel and tourism fair held yearly in Utrecht, The Netherlands, attracting travel and tourism exhibitors from all over the world. The fair takes place 12th – 17th January 2016 with the first day being dedicated as a trade day for tourism and travel related professionals.

The Netherlands is becoming a growing source market for Sri Lanka where a cumulative growth of 35.3% was seen with arrival numbers of over 32,742 for 2015. The Dutch market consists of high spenders whom the Promotion Bureau and the Industry members are targeting.

The opening ceremony of the Sri Lanka stand was held on the first day of the fair graced by the Ambassador for Sri Lanka in the Nethelands A. M. J. Sadiq and Mayor of Utrecht J. H. C. Van Zanen.

Sri Lanka has been participating at Vakantiebeurs for over a decade and this year, Sri Lankan presence was themed under ‘Eight Experiences – Pristine, Essence, Heritage, Wild, Thrills, Heritage, Festivals and Bliss. The Sri Lanka stand also featured a tea bar to showcase the world’s first ethically produced tea supplied by Ceylon Tea Board to all visitors to the Stand.

Apart from projecting Sri Lanka in this fair, it sets the stage for Sri Lankan industry to establish contacts with potential buyers, negotiate transactions and reinforce business relationships with existing buyers for Sri Lanka. As this is also a public fair the Sri Lankan team is also able to project diversity of attractions in our country to large number visitors who are future and potential travellers to Sri Lanka.

SRI LANKA: Sri Lanka Tourism Begins New Year 2016, By Investing On Promotional Campaign To Shine In South Korea

‘Journalists from KBS-South Korea met the officials from SLTPB-Public Relation Division’

Together with Korean Broadcasting Systems (KBS) & Sri Lanka mission for Republic of Korea, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) the nation's catalyst for tourism promotions, has taken the initiatives of promoting Destination Sri Lanka in Republic of Korea by inviting for a media team of their one of the top rated travel programs called 'Everywhere K'. SLTPB will be hosting to this media team during their 10 days Familiarization Tour program in Sri Lanka covering most of the highly regarded national attractions including Heritage & Cultural sites, Beauty of Nature in Highlands, Safari, Whale Watching & traditional local lifestyle in different part of the island. The KBS media crew has planned to film a travel documentary about destination Sri Lanka which will be broadcast in Republic of Korea. Members of Sri Lanka Inbound Tour operators Association & The Hotel Association of Sri Lanka have also shown their fullest support to succeed with this promotional program.

With these promotional media familiarization activities, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) focusing on to get access to strong South Korean outbound tourism market which numbered over 14 million tourists departures during the previous years. This is witnessing to the possibility of every one in four of the South Korean citizen having the financial capability of traveling abroad for their holiday. Identifying, the potential strength of this South Korean outbound tourism sector, SLTPB targeting to receive 20,000.00 tourists arrivals from South Korea during the year 2016 by surpassing the last year 14,300 arrivals.

Over the recent years, South Korean tourism sector (both inbound / outbound) has gained a significant growth despite the high competition receiving from neighboring commercial giants such as Japan & China and growing doubtfulness of political stability mainly due to the continues red alarming from North Korea. During the previous year, per capita income showed USD 23,000 making the outbound tourism sector much stronger and that creates a greater opportunity for regional nations including Sri Lanka.

Large number of holiday trips made by South Koreans is mainly within the regional making the top 12 destinations are Asian nations except to United States. However, most of the elite South Korean frequent travelers still give their first choice to Europe as the possible holiday destination making around one million out of the total 14 million travelers. Sri Lanka will be seeing to position itself in the middle of potential high-end clientele from South Korea. As a colorful & compact tropical nation carrying a greater influence of Buddhists Culture Sri Lanka has all the comfort & relaxation of a paradise to offer the South Korean tourists.

Under the guidance of Hon. Minister for Tourism & Christian Affairs Mr. John Amarathunga & well-known industry veteran the present Chairman of SLTPB Mr. Paddy Withana, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) has setup plans to release an aggressive promotional campaign in 2016, within the selected potential markets to compete with the potential competitors in the region. As part of the plans, Public Relation division at SLTPB are planning to bring down high profile journalists from key markets under their Visiting Journalists Program (VJP) increase global awareness on destination Sri Lanka.

SRI LANKA: Malindo Air Launched Daily Service From Kuala Lumpur To Colombo

Malindo Air launched a daily service from Kuala Lumpur to Colombo on last 18th December 2015 expanding and strengthening their operations in Sri Lanka. Malindo Air is a Malaysian airline with headquarters in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia. The airline is the result of a joint venture between National Aerospace and Defense Industries (NADI) of Malaysia and Lion Air of Indonesia.

The name Malindo signifies a cooperative pact between the two countries, derived from the countries’ names – Malaysia and Indonesia. Malindo Air operates from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (KLIA2) and the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport (also known as the Subang Airport, Subang SkyPark or LTSAAS) in Subang, Selangor, Malaysia. Malindo has selected Colombo as an emerging destination and Malindo marks another important milestone of launching this new rout.

Hon. Minister Nimal Siripala De Silva, Minister of Transport, Ms. Madubhani Perera, Director Marketing SLTPB and Ms. Chami Gasnawage, Assistant Director Marketing SLTPB attended the inaugural flight launching ceremony at BIA welcoming the new flight to Sri Lanka. “We expect 15% growth in Malaysian Tourist Arrivals in 2016 which is over 25,000 tourists per year, voiced Ms. Madubhani Perera, Director Marketing – Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau. Jetwing travels is working as the General Sales Agency (GSA) for Malindo Air. Mr. Sunil Pieris, Director Travel Services and Mr. Raju Arasaratnam, Executive Director at Jetwing Travels were also took part at the inauguration ceremony.

“Whilst it’s true that as we continue to expand, we are taking more people on more aircraft to more places, we have to continue our efforts to provide the best service for our customers,” Chief Executive Officer Chandran Rama Muthy said in a statement. He also said that Malindo Air is working very closely with Tourism Malaysia to promote a wide variety of attractions in Sri Lanka.

The carrier operates a network of scheduled passenger services throughout Malaysia, and has spread its wings to regional destinations in Indonesia, Thailand, Bangladesh, India, Singapore, Nepal and Australia, covering an extensive network of over 40 routes in the region.

SRI LANKA: Launching A Logo To Celebrate 50th Anniversary Of Sri Lanka Tourism

On the 2nd May 2016, nation’s catalyst in Tourism will be celebrating its Golden Jubilee with a greater level of pride. Highlighting this memorable milestone of 50th anniversary, Sri Lanka Tourism will be launching a Logo for its Golden Jubilee Celebrations on the 12th February 2016 at

11.00 a.m. The Minister for Tourism Development & Christian Affairs Hon. John Amarathunga will be the Chief Guest for this event.

Ceylon Tourist Board was established on the 02nd May 1966 as per the No. 10 of Tourism Act 1966. This historical event marks the official commencement of planned tourism development of Sri Lanka. It was also the moment which introduced the regulatory framework in tourism which paved way to the development of tourism facilities and services as well as promotions which were initiated by the national body.

Further, Ceylon Tourist Board operated as the administrative body and handling with the upgrading of tourism product and related services of the Tourism industry in Sri Lanka to drive towards delivering an unforgettable holiday experience to all tourists visiting destination - Sri Lanka.

The national celebrations of the 50th Anniversary of Sri Lanka Tourism will be held on 27th May

2016 at the main hall of Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH), together with all four institutions consisting in Sri Lanka Tourism namely, Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA), Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB), Sri Lanka Institution of Tourism & Hospitality Management (SLITHM) and Sri Lanka Convention Bureau (SLCB). Commemorative volume, a commemorative stamp and a video film on the 50 years history will be launched at the national ceremony.

HE The President and Hon. Prime Minister of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and also the Secretary General of United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) are being invited for the official ceremony on 27th May 2016. This event will be followed by a National exhibition of which showcases important landmarks of Sri Lanka Tourism since its establishment in 1966 and will held from 27th May to 29th May from 10 a.m. to
9.00 p.m.

In addition, Sri Lanka Tourism, in connection with the celebration of 50th Anniversary will organize several events and activities to mark this historic

SRI LANKA: ‘Destination Sri Lanka’ at Vakantiebeurs 2016

Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau together with nine industry members are currently at the largest tourism fair Vakantiebeurs 2016 in The Netherlands promoting the Island among Dutch Tourism Trade and Dutch Travellers.

The Vakantiebeurs fair is the largest travel and tourism fair held yearly in Utrecht, The Netherlands, attracting travel and tourism exhibitors from all over the world. The fair takes place 12th – 17th January 2016 with the first day being dedicated as a trade day for tourism and travel related professionals.

The Netherlands is becoming a growing source market for Sri Lanka where a cumulative growth of 35.3% was seen with arrival numbers of over 32,742 for 2015. The Dutch market consists of high spenders whom the Promotion Bureau and the Industry members are targeting.

The opening ceremony of the Sri Lanka stand was held on the first day of the fair graced by the Ambassador for Sri Lanka in the Nethelands A. M. J. Sadiq and Mayor of Utrecht J. H. C. Van Zanen.

Sri Lanka has been participating at Vakantiebeurs for over a decade and this year, Sri Lankan presence was themed under ‘Eight Experiences – Pristine, Essence, Heritage, Wild, Thrills, Heritage, Festivals and Bliss. The Sri Lanka stand also featured a tea bar to showcase the world’s first ethically produced tea supplied by Ceylon Tea Board to all visitors to the Stand.

Apart from projecting Sri Lanka in this fair, it sets the stage for Sri Lankan industry to establish contacts with potential buyers, negotiate transactions and reinforce business relationships with existing buyers for Sri Lanka. As this is also a public fair the Sri Lankan team is also able to project diversity of attractions in our country to large number visitors who are future and potential travellers to Sri Lanka.