Asian biking tour kicks off from Colombo, precursor to larger expedition in future

Tuesday, March 17, 2015 - www.ft.lk

A group of 18 motorcycle enthusiasts from Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia kicked off a tour of Sri Lanka yesterday.

The initiative, which is organised by the Malaysia-Sri Lanka Biker’s Friendship Association, will see the group follow a route that will take them across many famous destinations and tourist hotspots in Sri Lanka including Sigiriya, Kandy, Pasikudah, Galle and Hikkaduwa, finally completing their tour by taking part in the ‘one million tree story project’ – a Sri Lanka Tourism initiative aimed at reversing forest cover depletion in the island which declined from 53% to 29.3% within the last two decades.
All of the participants’ motorcycles were specially flown down to Sri Lanka for the event with each reportedly being valued at above $ 500,000.
Prior to the start of his journey, association leader Leslie Tilak noted that this initial tour would serve as an ideal litmus test with a view to preparing Sri Lanka to host a South Asian bikers expedition to the island which will include almost 5,000 riders driving top-notch bikes across the country.
The bikers were flagged off by Tourism and Sports Minister Navin Dissanayake, Deputy Foreign Minister Ajith P. Perera, the Malaysian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka and Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau Chairman Rohantha Athukorala.

“The latest trend globally is where affluent people indulge in an interest or passion which is an opportunity for countries to attract top-dollar tourists provided the country has the unique terrain to meet the expectations of visitors.
“The Malaysian- Sri Lanka Bikers Friendship Association is one such passionate group of people which is not just made up of motorcycle enthusiasts but actually are a set of deeply passionate people where riding is a way of life, who have found Sri Lanka attractive and who have the potential to spend $ 500 a day, which is double the tourism earnings from a western traveller. Just imagine the financial impact to the value chain of Sri Lanka Tourism,” Athukorala stated.
Tourism arrivals to the island continued to surge in February after recording a growth of 16.7% in 2015 with cumulative growth of 11.6%. Notably, during this period, China emerged as a leading market for Sri Lanka, growing at 85.6% to beat out traditional market leaders the United Kingdom for the first time, according to Sri Lanka Tourism statistics.