The Tourism Promotions Bureau has decided to honour the payments due for international media corporations such as, Bloomberg, Sky News U.K, Al-Jazeera and CNN.
This amount due is around US$ 500,000 and they are for international marketing campaigns that were done by the previous government.
Christian Affairs and Tourism Minister John Amaratunge speaking at the press briefing regarding the hosting of Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) 2017 May in Negombo, said the Tourism Promotion Bureau has the funds to settle it. The’ Daily News Business’ on March 21, 2017exclusivly reported that this amount was due to international media houses.
“Due to the actions of the previous regime, that did not honour these payments, these international media institutions refused to participate in the promotional campaigns. However we have managed to get them on board once again after we assured them to pay their dues,” Amaratunge said.
Christian Affairs and Tourism Ministry Secretary Janaka Sugathadasa said that Sri Lanka will honour this payment before the commencement of the PATA Summit.
Minister Amaratunge said that these campaigns are necessary to promote Sri Lanka in the international market. “We have taken measures to get the leading media stations back on board with Sri Lanka”.
Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau Managing Director Sutheash Balasubramaniam said Sri Lanka will be embark on a US$ 3 billion global campaign once the media bills are settled.
“In the meantime we have taken initiative to run a digital media campaign of Rs. 300 to 500 million focusing on the tourist market in Europe, India and China. We strongly believe that Sri Lanka should have solid footing in promoting the country as a tourist destination through digital and social media,” Balasubramaniam said.
Officials believe these initiatives will help to improve the brand image of Sri Lanka.
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