Sri Lanka’s Tourism authorities are set to roll out several campaigns to promote the island as a key tourist destination.
The campaigns were revealed by Sri Lanka Tourism officials yesterday (26) at a forum to give an update on its strategy going forward.
According to Daily FT, Sri Lanka Tourism will spend Rs. 1.4 billion over the next 12 months from July to mark a fresh approach to destination marketing including two domestic campaigns.
The Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) will roll out its global destination marketing blitz focusing on 16 key markets to boost arrivals.
SLTPB Chairman Chalaka Gajabahu stated that the SLTPB Board has approved the thematic campaign and that the campaign has been shared with the Tourism Minister to obtain Cabinet approval.
“The key focused markets include the UK, France, Germany, India, Russia, Australia, China, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, US, Middle East, Japan and Korea. Continuous promotions will also be conducted in other markets simultaneously,” he said.
Chalaka Gajabahu further revealed that plans are underway to conduct two domestic campaigns to remind the hospitality extended by Sri Lankan citizens to visitors from around the world.
“A domestic tourism campaign will be launched towards the end of the year. One campaign is to remind the importance of tourism to Sri Lanka and the other campaign is aimed at the Sri Lankan diaspora towards luring visitors and investments,” he added.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) Chairman Priantha Fernando expressed confidence in the industry’s potential to welcome two million arrivals and generate $ 3.7 billion in income this year.
Also addressing the Forum, Priantha Fernando revealed the SLTDA has set its sights on increasing arrivals to 5 million and earning an impressive $ 21.6 billion within seven years.
“As part of its long-term strategy to welcome 5 million visitors by 2030, it hopes to lift the average spending per visitor to $ 4,000, with 2.5 million of them spending over $ 500 per day, indicating a concentration on luring high-end tourists,” Fernando said.
Emphasizing President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s vision of surpassing $ 15 billion in tourism income over the next five years, the Chairman stated the industry needs to embark on a data-driven decision-making process to attract high-end visitors.
Recognising the need for additional hotels and room capacity to attract high-end tourists to Sri Lanka, he further stated plans are underway to revamp the four-decade-old Sri Lanka Tourism resorts countrywide.
Priantha Fernando revealed that in a bid to streamline and expedite tourism investments, the waiting time has been reduced to less than 50 days.
He also noted that from May 2022 to May 2023, a total of 32 projects, including 1,283 hotel rooms, with a combined investment of $ 160 million, have received approval.
The SLTDA is also finalising guidelines for tourism services, finalising 11 draft regulations for new services, and declaring new Tourism Development Areas as per the Tourism Act, he added.
