The Hotels Association of Sri Lanka (THASL) commends the Government for taking steps to commence the much awaited destination marketing campaign targeting over 16 key countries. The proposed campaign will focus on 8 Key generating markets including UK, Germany, France, Russia, India, China, Middle East and Australia where specific Destination Representative Companies will be appointed.
Further, THASL noted the steps taken to appoint PR agents in emerging markets USA, Spain, Scandinavia, Italy, Poland, Netherlands, South Korea and Japan. THASL also commented on the transparency and the adaptation of best practices to select the global partners of Sri Lanka Tourism for the proposed campaign. The Cabinet approval has been granted for a five-year campaign which is estimated to be over USD 190 million. Commenting on the proposed Global Campaign Sanath Ukwatte, Chairman of THASL commented that “This is a long-standing expectation by the tourism industry, who has invested over a $15 billion in the industry. It is the expectation of the industry that the government will implement the proposed campaign to entice potential travelers back to the country.
We extend our sincere appreciation to the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) for going through this comprehensive exercise and achieving key milestones, making the campaign ready to be launched in the second quarter of 2022. We would like to extend our fullest corporation and assistance to make this campaign a success as this will be a major boost to start the recovery process of the crisis hit industry due to COVID-19,” said Ukwatte.Commenting on the Global Campaign, Hiran Cooray, Chairman of the Advisory Committee stated, “profiling and positioning the destination is one of the core tasks of the National Tourism Organization. It is indeed commendable, the progress achieved so far in the proposed Global Campaign which we struggled for over 10 years. We sincerely appreciate the efforts taken by the Hon. Minister of Tourism and the Sri Lanka Tourism Officials and their efforts to make this dream a reality.” “We have a long way to go but the journey of a thousand miles starts with a step”. In 2018 tourism sector accounts for $4.5 billion earnings and provided direct and indirect employment for over 3 million people.”
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