With authorities strategic operations carried out to contain the situation and the arrest of those responsible Sri Lanka is rapidly returning to normalcy and the industry is readying itself for what was to have been a record mid-season in what would have been a record year of growth for the tourism industry.
Ensuring security and safety for everyone in Sri Lanka has been the single focus of the government. In the immediate wake of the attack the full force of Sri Lanka’s highly experienced Tri forces were deployed across the island and it is confirmed that all the suspects of this small but deadly cell have been identified and apprehended.
As all Sri Lankans are reassured by the expert skills of our military forces in keeping the island safe from any future threat, so will Sri Lanka Tourism re-inspire confidence in what is Lonely Planet’s destination of the year 2019. ‘This is a journey governed by focus, clarity, maturity, experience and expertise’ asserts Kishu Gomes, Chairman Sri Lanka Tourism.
“Tourism is a strategically critical sector in Sri Lanka’s ever-expanding economy. It’s now the third highest revenue generator for the country and it is estimated that 500,000 individuals depend on it. From the fishermen, to the farmer to the tuk tuk driver to the king coconut seller on the roadside, they all benefit from the tourism industry. On the flip side, thousands of people are directly employed in the hospitality sector,” said John Amaratunga, Minister of Tourism, Wildlife and Christian Religious Affairs.
“Therefore, many Sri Lankans from various walks of life are stakeholders of the tourism industry. We have seen darker days but have always bounced back, better and stronger. Our resilience as a nation is unrivalled. This is our strength and we will show the world that Sri Lanka will once again be the top destination to visit,” he added.
In 2019, 34 roadshows have been planned out of which 4 already completed. Sri Lanka Tourism will as custodians of the industry move forward with the other 30 as planned.
In addition to the roadshows, Sri Lanka Tourism will lead the destination marketing efforts in 62 travel fairs around the world. It has already successfully positioned Sri Lanka as the world’s premier holiday destination in 38 fairs to date and will continue to do so with renewed vigor at the balance 24 fairs scheduled in the months ahead.
The country has developed a number of ways in which to help the global tourism community, industry stakeholders and global travellers alike understand that the vast majority of the island was unaffected by the attacks of Easter Sunday.
One such initiative was a special program aimed at foreign travel journalists; five journalists from reputable media houses in Ukraine, Malaysia and Italy visited Kandy, Colombo and the Southern Part of Sri Lanka.
Similarly, Sri Lanka Tourism has moved rapidly to ensure that Sri Lanka’s ground situation is readily accessible to those planning their itinerary, as current portals may not always carry specific information that tourists may be looking for, given the surplus of incident-specific news in the last few days.
In this regard, apart from the planned portal, Sri Lanka Tourism is currently hosting a number of international travel bloggers in the island with reach in over 15 countries around the globe & a combined following of over 1.5 million.
In addition to bloggers coming into the island, Sri Lanka is set to participate at the international blogger conference in Italy in early June. The platform will provide maximum exposure to illustrate the Island’s experience and plans, as well as garner support to strengthen the island’s travel campaign for the coming months. It is expected that over 400 bloggers predominantly from the UK and other European countries would attend.
Sri Lanka Tourism chairman led the panel and briefed the different
stakeholders on the following;
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Sri Lanka Tourism’s Emergency response protocol deployment
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Information access & dissemination
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New safety and security procedures that focus on training people, defining procedure and installing advanced security equipment
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Crisis management process & procurement of services
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Destination recovery acceleration through focussed and strategic marketing
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Aggressive promotion strategies
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Discussions on concessions and relief packages for the industry
