To boost tourist arrivals from India, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, along with the Consulate General of Sri Lanka in Mumbai, organized a virtual awareness session on opening Sri Lanka for Indian travellers.
The online session was joined by more than 280 prominent Indian outbound touroperators / travel agents and journalists from reputed newspapers,Sri Lankan Airlines, and representatives of key tourism associations of Sri Lanka also participated in the Webinar.
Dr. ValsanVethody, Consul General of Sri Lanka in Mumbai highlighted that the Tourism Industry in Sri Lanka is beginning to see an opportunity to get back on its feet and revive itself due to the accelerated e vaccination program.
He further mentioned that the Indian government has considered opening Sri Lanka to the Indian travelers as a positive step and invited all the stakeholders in India to join this endeavour.
Madubhani Perera expressed that India is a very important source market for Sri Lanka.
Dushan Wickramasuriya, Director Marketing also made a comprehensive presentation to the audience by highlighting the importance of the tourism industry to Sri Lanka which has contributed 4% to 5% to our GDP.
He further briefed on the health protocols introduced by the Health Authorities for the Indian tourists arriving in Sri Lanka.
Sanath Ukwatte, President /THASL explained about the preparedness of Sri Lankan hotel industry to cater to the needs of international travellers in the current environment.
Nishard Wijetunga, Vice President / SLAITO highlighted that movement of international tourists arranged by local DMCs is not restricted.
Mervyn Fernandopulle, Past President / ASMET also endorsed this.
Jay Bhatia, Vice President of Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) expressed that they are willing to promote Sri Lanka further and requested to organize fam tours to Sri Lanka to raise the interest among the tour operators.
Furthermore, he is of the view that Sri Lanka tourism strategy should focus more on tourists who have already been to Sri Lanka rather than trying to acquire new tourists considering the uncertainty of the present times.
Ajay Prakash, President of Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI), sharing the same views, requested to promote non-traditional aspects of Sri Lanka tourism such as culture, architecture, adventure tourism, etc.
Ruwan Wijekoon, Manager Sri Lankan Airlines for the Western Region of India explained the promotions initiated by Sri Lankan airlines (Buy one Get one free) promotion. to attract Indian Tourists to Sri Lanka.
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