In a bid to spread awareness on the reopening of Sri Lanka for Indian travellers, the Consulate of Sri Lanka in Mumbai along with the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) organised a webinar for the Indian travel trade where the tourism board reiterated the importance of Indian market and shared dialogue on the new protocols required for Indian travellers to visit Sri Lanka.
Welcoming the attendees, Dr Valsan Vethody, Consul General, Consulate General of Sri Lanka, Mumbai said they are very optimistic about the Indian market as Sri Lanka gears up to welcome international tourists again. The tourism board officials informed that since the island nation opened its borders for fully vaccinated Indian travellers on August 19, they have been receiving a good number of queries from India.
In her addressal, Madhubani Perera, Acting Managing Director, SLTPB shared the tourism board’s marketing plans and mentioned they are working on a global promotion plan which also includes conducting roadshows in India. She also spoke about the ongoing process of appointing a representative firm in India. “India is one of our biggest source markets and we want to cater to the growing demand. We will continue to organise such webinars and other promotional activities for the Indian market,” she said. She also took the opportunity to thank the stakeholders in the Indian travel industry for the continued support rendered for Sri Lanka throughout.
Dushan Wickramasuriya, Director – Marketing SLTPB in his presentation said that Sri Lanka has already received 1,500 tourists from India in the first five days of September which is healthy sign for tourism revival. He also mentioned that Sri Lanka Tourism will resume attending physical overseas trade exhibitions and fairs.
Representing the Indian travel trade, Jay Bhatia, Vice President, Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) and Ajay Prakash, President, Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) attended the webinar and shared their view and recommendations to strengthen tourism ties between both the nations.
On behalf of TAAI, Bhatia highlighted the need for the SLTPB to incentivise member agents for promoting tourism to the island nation. “Sri Lanka should concentrate to promote itself additionally as a weekend getaway in India and packages need to be promoted accordingly. Initially the concentration should be at attracting repeat travellers, which shall boost the confidence of first-time travellers,” he said.
On behalf of TAFI, Prakash also echoed the thoughts of promoting Sri Lanka as a weekend destination in India as he spoke about strengthening air connectivity between both the countries by increasing the number of flights. “The promotional offer run by Sri Lankan Airlines will certainly attract the Indian travellers but I feel, the high cost of the RT-PCR test on arrival in Sri Lanka should also be revised to boost the travellers’ confidence,” he said.
Speakers from the Tourist Hotel Association of Sri Lanka (THASL), Sri Lanka Inbound Tour Operators Association (SLAITO), Association for Small & Medium Enterprises in Tourism (ASMET), also shared their views on catering to the travel demand under the new normal.
The Sri Lankan tourism board also made a detailed presentation on the groundwork put in place by the Sri Lanka Government to welcome the tourists to the country in accordance with the health guidelines. Currently, 15 flights per week are operational between India and Sri Lanka.
