SLCB campaign to woo Indian corporates, travel agents

by Chanuka Mannapperuma

The Sri Lanka Convention Bureau (SLCB), in partnership with SriLankan Airlines, Taj Hotel, Resorts and Palaces and the Meeting Interaction Conference and Exhibition (MICE) Industry in Sri Lanka will launch a major promotional campaign in the metros in India beginning September, this year. The road, shows, sales blitz, media related work and presentations to Indian Associations will continue till April 2008.

General Manager SLCB Vipula Wanigasekera said the objective of the campaign was to create an awareness of the meeting facilities in Sri Lanka among Indian Corporate Travel Agents and induce them to take advantage of the special offer to be made available during the promotion and book Sri Lanka for their next conference, meetings and incentive programs.

He said in spite of the considerable number of Indian corporate meetings held in Sri Lanka, there was a huge untapped market that will be exploited by the Sri Lankan delegation.

The delegation will enlighten the Indian Corporate and Travel Agents on the facilities available in different locations in Sri Lanka from the city to the beaches, cultural triangle, wildlife and mountains. This will enable the Indian corporate to choose from the many options to meet the objective of the meeting and incentive market.

The Indian outbound MICE market is expected to be over 800,000 of the total nine million outbound traffic by the year 2008.

Sri Lanka hopes to capture at least 10% of this market within the next two years during this promotional drive which has been designed in a more structured manner over a period of time encompassing the target audiences, creating an awareness and interest leading to MICE business transactions beneficial to all partners in Sri Lanka and India.

According to Wanigasekera, India is not only the biggest market for Sri Lankan Tourism but also for MICE Tourism. Apart from the meeting facilities, the Indian visitor is also attracted by shopping, entertainment, Asian cuisine and visits to important places including the world famous Seetha Amman Temple.

The road shows that the Sri Lanka Convention Bureau had initiated with SriLankan Airlines in the last three years have resulted in the last arrival record of 18,000 visitors from India for Meetings and Conferences of the total arrivals of 128,000 from India to Sri Lanka in 2006.