Sri Lanka Unites – Expo Milano 2015
In an historic development a multitude of Sri Lankan ministries got together under one umbrella based on a cabinet decision , to be present at the world's greatest event next to the Olympics expo 2015 in Milan, Italy. The cabinet tasked the Tourist Board to champion the event partnering the Sri Lanka Export Development iBoard together with Sri Lanka Tea Board, National Craft Council, Sri Lankan Airline and Board of Investment.
The Minister for Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathuideen appointed Rohantha Athukorala to be the Commissioner General for Sri Lanka at Expo 2015 with a core team from across the agencies.
The Minister for Tourism and Sports Navin Dissananayake said that it is time that we understand the financial and power blocs and a learn to work with everyone across the world. In this respect the EU is important and it is paramount that we build strong relationships and Expo 2015 will be an ideal platform to launch this initiative. We are extremely pleased that all agencies are coming together under one umbrella to build brand Sri Lanka he added.
The Commissioner General for Expo 2015 said that the investment made will always follow government procedure and we will together be accountable to measure the impact. The 6 month event will be structured to 6 themes which will tell the world Sri Lanka;s£ promise. On Tourism it will be '8 wonderful experiences in 8 wonderful days". He said that in 2014 we had 23 million people who googled Sri Lanka tourism related searches and we ended with a conversion of 1.5 million visiting Sri Lanka.
"Expo 2015 alone will reach 20 million people hands on and 1 billion via digital and overall media explosion which means that we can double the awareness. Now in the next 6 months we will work on inking an agreement with a large tour operator from Italy so that we can attract charter tourists into Sri Lanka. The good news is that this partnership is already in the system with a top blue chip company. If we can conclude this partnership then we have a head start to expo 2015" said Athukorala who is also the Chairman of Sri Lanka Tourism Bureau.
