Indian media and travel influencers take lead in supporting Sri Lankan tourism
Under the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau’s Visiting Journalists & Blogger Programs, a group of high-profile Indian media personnel was invited to Sri Lanka from July 3 to July 11, to re-discover Indo-Sri Lanka historical relationships.
Eight media personnel representing several key states & cities of India, including Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Kolkata, Bangalore and Hyderabad were present. The Indian audience expected to be reached via this media promotion will be approximately 104 million across India, covering key outbound regions.
Some of the key Indian national & regional publications that participated in this destination exploration were, Lokmat (Print – daily), Daily Sagar (Language – Marathi), India Blooms News Service (indiablooms.com), Mumbai Messenger (Language- Hindi), India Tribune (Language – English), Daily Do baje Dopaha (Language Hindi).
Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB), the national government agency for International tourism promotions undertook this timely initiative to generate a positive destination brand image about Sri Lanka, while showcasing the welcoming approach of tourism stakeholders in Sri Lanka.
With the current economic downturn the country is facing, neighboring Indian tourists will be the first adventurous traveler segment to visit Sri Lanka on holidays and other tourism & leisure purposes. Yet, they are expecting real-life updates from Sri Lanka to know how travel is feasible. SLTPB invited the above mainstream Indian publications as well as a group of well-established travel influencers to have a naked-eye look at the island mainly through travel and to show them how important it is for tourism to be kept alive for the betterment of well over 2 million Sri Lankans who are involved in it. Also, this promotional exercise is expected to provide an assurance about hassle-free travel in Sri Lanka and update tourism stakeholders on recent policy actions taken by the Ministry of Tourism to offer uninterrupted tourism services (eg: fuel).
For fellow Indian travelers, there are hundreds of reasons to select Sri Lanka as the best holiday getaway out of all regional destinations. With the currency variance, traveling to Sri Lanka right now makes ‘’The Read Deal’’ for Indian tourists. Also, with less cultural shock and more familiar things (food, weather, culture) just like back in India, Sri Lanka is like a perfect holiday home located within a very short distance with frequent flights covering many states.
Visiting Indian media & influencers delegation expects to further promote Sri Lanka as one of the best tourist destinations in the region for potential Indian travel segments, including family travelers, honeymooners, business travel & weekend quick break holiday seekers, wedding & MICE, young solo travel and pilgrims – Ramayana & Buddhist Trail.
To welcome this high-profile Indian media delegation, SLTPB together with Galle Face Hotel Colombo and Walkers Tours organized an evening welcoming event on July 4.
Together with Minister of Tourism Harin Fernado, chairman SLTPB Chalaka Gajabahu, Managing Director SLTPB Ms. Padma Siriwardena, Director Public Relations STPB Ms. Madubhani Perera, Assistant Director Public Relations Chaminda Munasinghe warmly welcomed the Indian media delegation to Sri Lanka.
Officials from the Indian High Commission of Sri Lanka, members of the Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators Association (SLAITO) and key Indian entrepreneurs in Sri Lanka also participated in this event. During the event, they shared positive views about the tourism industry in Sri Lanka and the support they seek from India’s outbound tourism industry for a speedy recovery.
The Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka also welcomed the media delegation and Eldos Mathew Punnoose – First Secretary for Press and Information, Development Corporation shared the High Commission’s views on supporting the Sri Lankan tourism industry and on improving trade and social developments in Sri Lanka.
