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| Sunday,13 November 2005 |
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Boost for Lanka's tourism industry at WTM by Sureka Galagoda World Travel Mart, the second largest global event in the (WTM) Travel and Tourism trade calendar will be held from November 14-17 at ExCel in London. The main objective of this mega event is to promote domestic, inter regional and international travel throughout the world. The Sri Lanka Tourist Board (SLTB) will take a delegation representing 45 companies from the hospitality trade including hoteliers and travel agents. The main attractions at the Sri Lankan stall include a Sri Lankan cultural dance performance, tea promotion, special events, an awards ceremony, passport competition, newsletters and promoting our traditional culture through the theme selected for the pavilion. A 12-member group from the Channa/Upuli Dancing Foundation will perform during the WTM and parade the trade show to attract visitors to the Sri Lankan pavilion. In addition to the two special performances on the third and fourth day the troupe will give a special performance on Sri Lanka's wedding rituals at the world stage and at the entrance. The Dilmah Tea Company will sponsor the tea counter at the mart and provide all requirements of the SLTB for the counter including the trained staff. The pre-briefing will be held this evening in the United Kingdom while the opening ceremony will be held on November 14 at 9 a.m. at the Sri Lankan pavilion. The guests of honour will be the Presidents of ABTA, AITO, PATA, FTO, Sri Lanka's High Commissioner in the UK Deputy Minister of Tourism, Industries and Investment Promotion Arjuna Ranatunga, Chairman SLTB Udaya Nanayakkara and some key persons from Travel Week BBC and heads of Trade Associations. The awards ceremony to honour the three best tour operators in the UK who brought the highest number of tourists to Sri Lanka will be held on November 14 at 5.30 p.m. at the Sri Lankan Pavilion. The awards will be presented by Arjuna Ranatunga and Udaya Nanayakkara. The award winners will be selected based on the feedback the SLTB has received from SriLankan Airlines, Ethihad, Qatar and Emirates and also by the data received by the tour operators themselves. In addition the SLTB will also present an award for the best booth and the best common area placement at the Sri Lankan pavilion. Batey PR has organised the travel agents visiting WTM to be part of the passport competition. Under this competition each agent will get a passport. They will have to visit stalls of 12 countries listed by the organisers including Sri Lanka. Once the visits to the stalls are completed they will be entitled to a raffle draw. One-thousand newsletters will be distributed free at the counter. The SLTB stall covering a floor area of 346.5 square kilometres includes 16 full booths and 28 common area placements. The entrance to the booth has been designed by G. Malaviarachchi depicting the Watadageya of Polonnaruwa, which showcases the rich culture of Sri Lanka. Built to actual size in fibre glass the entrance consists of the Sandakada Pahana, Mura Gal or Guard Stones and the Korawak Gal or pillars. |
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