President targets 2.5 mn tourists by 2016

by Ananda WEDAARACHCHI

President Mahinda Rajapaksa declared 2011 the "Visit Sri Lanka Year" and set a target of 2.5 million tourists by 2016 as envisaged in the tourism strategic plan.

Addressing the "Sri Lanka Small Miracle" the Sri Lanka Tourism's new brand launching ceremony at BMICH via television from Temple Trees the President said that his vision for development of tourism has become a reality. Every effort would be made and all resources would be provided to Sri Lanka Tourism to achieve the target of 2.5 million tourists by 2016. A series of activities and events had been planned for 2011 "Visit Sri Lanka" year to lure in more tourists to the Island, the President pointed out.

Sri Lanka Tourism officially launched its new logo and tagline "Sri Lanka Small Miracle" last Tuesday at the BMICH ushering in a new era for the industry.

Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau Chairman Bernard Goonatileka said Sri Lanka Small Miracle denotes the mysteries of Sri Lanka and how it holds so many different features in such a small geographical area. The positioning strategy was arrived at based on the key aspects of the destination, diversity, compactness authenticity and an island which differentiates the destination from other competitors, he said.

Managing Director Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, Dileep Mudadeniya said that the objective of the Sri Lanka tourism re-branding exercise was to create a single core idea that can change people's perception of the country.

The challenge faced by Sri Lanka Tourism during the brand strategy planning session in 2006 was to find an idea that embraces the truth of the country, which is relevant to the potential visitor, then communicate that idea through every material item produced thus establishing an integrated marketing communication approach, he said.