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| Sunday, 16 November 2003 |
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UK cancellations re-booked By Reggie Fernando our London corr. Top tour operators from the West brought hope and smiles to Sri Lanka's tourist trade participants at the World Travel Market (WTM) here last week when they expressed the view that things are looking much brighter now than a week ago and that cancelled bookings were being rebooked. They indicated that the false alarm created by press reports of the brief emergency had rocked the West but presently things have cooled down among holiday makers and they will certainly descend upon Sri Lanka in heavy numbers. Speaking to the Sunday Observer one of Britain's leading tour operators said: "As far as I gather everything in Sri Lanka is fast recovering and many who cancelled their bookings are rebooking them." Another said that there is no better value for money than Sri Lanka this winter with the added attraction of the English cricket tour. The Sri Lanka High Commissioner opened the Sri Lanka pavilion together with Dr. P. Ramanujam, Secretary Ministry of Tourism, Paddy Withana, Chairman Sri Lanka Tourist Board and Gehan Perera and Hiran Cooray representing Sri Lanka's tourist industry. From what was happening it was crystal clear that Sri Lanka tourism had gained much interest and the peace initiative and wide media coverage obtained by the Sri Lanka Tourist Board, London was paying dividends. The pavilion proved to be one of the busiest, attracting existing as well as new business contacts. According to many one of the key developments in the market is the build-up to tour operator confidence on the destination and also awareness on the destination as a multi faceted tourism product - nature, culture and adventure and this was exactly what the participants were promoting. Business was brisk and the pavilion area (15 by 14.5 meters) was a hive of activity with the huge contingent representing practically all the country's travel industry and allied trades putting on happy faces following their successful negotiations. The Sri Lanka Tourist Board had four days of highly successful promotional work with hundreds of foreign tour operators flooding the pavilion and doing business with their counterparts from Sri Lanka. Over two score of Sri Lanka tourism companies strongly promoted the diverse product in addition to the traditional beach and culture driven tours. Speaking to the Sunday Observer an official said: Production differentiation in connection with the emerging trends and increasing opportunities for Sri Lanka was evident and the companies promoted various niche products such as Ayurvedha, Weddings and Honeymoons, Adventure and Eco tours". Among the participating Sri Lanka Tourist Board officials were Dr. Prathap Ramanujam Secretary Tourism Ministry, Paddy Withana Chairman, Miss Charmarie Maelge Director UK and Benelux and Ireland and Mangala Suraweera Asst Director. The highlight of the Sri Lanka pavilion was the presentation of island's 'Nature' where three life-like elephants stood in an area surrounded by foliage and trees. They consisted of a male, female and a baby elephant standing beside its mothers. It looked so real and with the world getting around cameramen and participants from other countries abandoned their stands and flocked the place to get a view of this masterful craftsmanship. The idea was that of Dr. Buddhi Keerthisena, Chairman Craft Council and the man behind the actual construction was Sarath Gunatilleka and the advisor was Sarath Nanayakkara a pupil of the famous Sri Lankan sculptor Tissa Ranasinghe. Both Gunatilleka and Nanayakkara are from Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka was victorious in many ways but the greatest victory of all was when comments received from many tour operators at the WTM confirmed that the Sri Lanka pavilion was easily the very best out of all the exhibitors. Sri Lanka was also honoured when the WTM Global Award for contribution towards tourism development won by the Sri Lanka Tourism ministry was received by its secretary Dr. Prathap Ramanujam to the applause of a huge gathering. A seasoned British tour operator observed that the WTM 2003 was extremely important for Sri Lanka and a most successful promotion to aggressively promote the destination and its unique products had taken place. He said: "I am very, very happy indeed that your tourist board officials left no stone unturned to get the message 'Sri Lanka a land like no other' across to the hundreds of visitors that came to your stand." Tour operators and travel agents who played a major role in promoting SriLankan Airlines and long haul holidays to the island had their hour of glory at a grand dinner and awards ceremony organised by The Sri Lanka Tourist Board and SriLankan Airlines. |
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