In an attempt to strengthen its association with tourism sector in India, SriLankan Airlines, the national carrier of Sri Lanka and a member of the oneworld airline alliance, recently hosted the visiting delegates of TAAI (Travel Agents Association of India) in Colombo. They were in Sri Lanka to attend the annual conference of its North India chapter.
The grand evening witnessed a number of dance performances and unique cultural activities. The evening was graced by a host of distinguished guests, including YK Sinha – High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka, Arindam Bagchi, Deputy High Commissioner, Esha Srivastava, First Secretary (Press, Information & Culture), Siva Ramachandran, Chief Commercial Officer of SriLankan Airlines, Saminda Perera, General Manager Marketing of SriLankan Airlines, Dimuthu Tennakoon, General Manager Commercial Operations of SriLankan Airlines, Lalith De Silva, Regional Manager Indian Sub-Continent of SriLankan Airlines, Rajan Sehgal –Chairman TAAI and Members of TAAI Northern India chapter.
Chinthaka Weerasinghe, Manager- North India, SriLankan Airlines said, “We were delighted when the Northern India Chapter of TAAI chose Sri Lanka to host their annual conference at a time when Sri Lanka is fast becoming one of the most sought-after destinations among the Indian tourists. The tourist inflow from India shows a remarkable growth over the years and we are happy to extend our hospitality, convenient connectivity and specially designed packages to Indian travellers. The Northern Indian Region also happens to be the highest revenue generating region for Sri Lankan Airlines from a Pan India perspective. This is mainly due to the contribution of all our travel partners and we take this opportunity to thank them for their support.”
Sri Lanka’s potential as a strong leisure and MICE destination among Indian travellers was widely discussed among the dignitaries. The delegates also expressed their enthusiasm to promote Sri Lanka for heritage, pilgrimages and destination weddings.
With its strong presence in the Indian Sub-continent, SriLankan currently operates 100 weekly flights out of 11 key Indian cities, making it the obvious airline option for the Indian tourist, especially for large Pan India movement.
Last year, Sri Lanka experienced the highest number of tourist arrivals in history with a figure exceeding 1.8 million. The number of arrivals from India has experienced a growth of 30 per cent with a figure of over 320,000. According to the half-yearly figure for 2016, India has generated the highest number of tourists arriving in Sri Lanka, which translates to 170,000 tourist arrivals, which is expected to exceed the 400,000 mark by the end of the year.
