Sri Lanka welcomed a total of 170,000 Indian tourists in 2012, which is the biggest number from a single country. With the promotion of the ‘Get Sri Lankaned’ campaign across various cities in India, the tourism department is looking at increasing these arrivals to 400,000 by 2016, thus helping Sri Lanka achieve its goal of 2.5 million visitors by 2016. “Our main objective behind the campaign is to achieve maximum influx of tourists from the Indian market. India is one of our key source markets and holds vast opportunities for growth in the sector. According to UNWTO reports, Indian outbound tourists will rise to 50 million in 2020, and we want a large slice of that pie,” said Bhashwara Gunaratna, Chairman, Sri Lanka Tourism. According to him, the Ministry of Economic Development and Tourism in Sri Lanka has realised the potential this segment holds and has driven promotional campaigns of this nature to develop travel and tourism industry of Sri Lanka.
While speaking with T3 at the recently concluded Arabian Travel Market 2013 in Dubai, M.L.A.M.Hizbullah, Deputy Minister of Economic Development, Sri Lanka, said that India and Sri Lanka share many similarities, and being close neighbours creates immense opportunities for both countries. “India is the largest source market for Sri Lanka, accounting for nearly 20 per cent of all inbound arrivals. Sri Lanka Tourism launched a five year strategic development plan for the sector, from 2011-2016, based on the development policy framework. It includes serving the needs of all stakeholders and ensuring the economic benefits of the industry within a larger cross section of the society.”
Rumy Jauffer, Managing Director, Sri Lanka Tourism, further informed that tourist arrivals in Sri Lanka in December 2012 rose 25.4 per cent, the highest monthly total ever, and annual arrivals were up 17.5 per cent. “We are very confident that Sri Lanka will become the most favoured destination for tourists from all walks of life. As part of our strategy to increase MICE traffic from India, we plan to hold roadshows and workshops to educate the travel trade about the various attractions and facilities for MICE in Sri Lanka,” he said. Jauffer further informed that SriLankan Airlines has recently introduced a MICE brochure for the Indian market. “The brochure showcases the diverse attractions that the country has to offer as a MICE destination. It highlights the scale of MICE facilities, besides a variety of interesting MICE locations, including Colombo.”
Gunaratna opined that tourism is one of the main contributors to the country’s GDP. A major component of the Indian arrivals was MICE, followed by FITs and families. Jauffer also highlighted the fact that working in close synergy with the Indian trave
l trade will help Sri Lanka. “We will continue to organise many such campaigns, road shows, B2B meetings, and travel and investment forums.”
The tourism board also plans to open three offices in India, starting with Mumbai in July, followed by New Delhi and Bengaluru offices by end of this year. Commenting on air connectivity Gunarathna said, “Sri Lanka is a perfect destination for Indian travellers due to proximity and air connectivity, serviced by SriLankan Airlines, Jet Airways and Air India. SriLankan Airlines operates in eight Indian cities, offering easy connectivity.”
Clearing the air on the political relations between India and Sri Lanka, Gunarathna said, “Our statistics show that these issues have not hampered tourist influx into Sri Lanka. We will continue to work in harmony with India and promote tourism exchange between the two countries.”
