Lanka at Busan travel fair
The Embassy of Sri Lanka in Korea, in association with the Sri Lanka
Tourism Promotion Bureau, organised Sri Lanka's pavilion at the 16th
Busan International Travel Fair (BITF) earlier this month.
BITF is the largest travel exposition in Busan, the second largest
city in Korea after Seoul. It attracted international and national
tourism organisations including 430 local and foreign exhibitors
representing 43 foreign countries, 14 of which were Asian nations.
All major tourist destinations of Asia including Thailand, India,
China, Japan, Malaysia and the Philippines were strongly represented at
the fair. The 95,000 visitors to the fair consisted of professionals
from the tourism industry as well as the public who aimed to discover
potential travel destinations for their future vacations.
Sri Lanka's pavilion portrayed the island's tourism themes from its
heritage to its culture. As a result, the pavilion earned high praise
from visitors and won the Best Tourism Marketing Award from KOTFA.
Complimentary cups of Ceylon Tea were available to visitors along with
fun games and opportunities to win gifts after participating in a
tourism survey about Sri Lanka.
In parallel to BITF, a tourism promotion seminar was arranged at the
Haeundae Centum Hotel.
The event was well attended by Korean tour operators and tourism and
Buddhist associations based in Busan. During the seminar, attendees were
briefed on Sri Lanka as an ideal tourism destination, particularly as a
key site for Buddhist tourism.
During 2012, Korean tourist arrivals in Sri Lanka increased by 43
percent in comparison to the previous year.
In 2013, with the commencement of direct flights by Korean Air
between Colombo and Seoul and along with tourism promotional
opportunities such as the BITF, Sri Lanka hopes to continue to enjoy a
growth in the tourism sector and spread its culture and heritage to the
world.
- news.lk
|