Sri Lankan tourism rebranded:

Move to promote tourism effectively

Lalin FERNANDOPULLE

Sri Lankan tourism will be rebranded as Small Miracle to promote tourism more effectively, said an official of the Tourism Development Authority.

He said the new brand will help revitalise industry and promote the image of the country.

“Several measures have been taken to promote Sri Lanka as a tourist destination among discerning travellers across the globe”, he said.

The tourism industry was sluggish last year with the drop in the number of arrivals by 11.2 percent to 438,475 compared to 494,008 in 2007.

Tourist arrivals from the Middle East and Eastern Europe recorded a growth while arrivals from South Asia, Western Europe and East Asia decreased.

The number of tourist arrivals is expected to further decline this year due to the impact of the deterioration of the global economy.

Travel advisories issued by major tourist generating countries had an adverse impact on the tourism industry. Negative publicity through western media resulted in the decline in tourist arrivals.

“Amidst many challenges steps have been taken to promote tourism through the marketing strategy and activity plan for 2008-2010”, he said.

The three-year strategic plan focuses on four key markets;India, UK, Russia and the Middle East which have shown a growth potential.

Tourism promotion in the Eastern province has been one of the main targets this year and measures have been taken to revive the tourism in the province.

The Government offered a stimulus package early this year to help revive the ailing tourism industry, which included rescheduling of loans, waving off the fuel surcharge and the economic service charge.