'Meet Sri Lanka' campaign in Mumbai

In a bid to capitalise on Sri Lanka's proximity to India and attract more travellers, the Sri Lanka Convention Bureau, in association with SriLankan Airlines and a Sri Lankan MICE industry delegation, yesterday re-launched the 'Meet Sri Lanka' campaign in Mumbai. The main objective of the 'Meet Sri Lanka' campaign is to create awareness and create interest about the profile, proximity and products of Sri Lanka among Indian corporates and the Indian travel trade.

While speaking to reporters Upekkha Samaratunga, Sri Lankan Consul General in Mumbai, said, "In recent years, traffic from India to Sri Lanka has increased from both the leisure and MICE segments, mainly from the Meetings segment.

However, we still believe that Sri Lanka has not received its due market share owing to lack of awareness and we hope to rectify this." She added that short flights, easy connectivity, affordability as well as multiple shopping and entertainment options have made Sri Lanka an ideal MICE destination. The Sri Lanka Convention Bureau is targeting a mix of Tier-I and Tier-II cities in India such as Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Delhi, Thiruvananthapuram, Trichy and Kochi.

Speaking about their plans for the Indian travel trade, Samaratunga said, "We shall be holding road shows and MICE events in all the seven target cities. India offers great potential and we believe that the best option is to work closely with the travel trade and MICE operators across the country. Having said this, we shall also be conducting educational workshops, familiarisation trips, etc. to facilitate the travel trade and to increase awareness about the destination."

Participants from Sri Lanka attending the launch included Aitken Spence Travels (Pvt). Ltd., Asian Adventures, Ceylon Tours Ltd., Cinnamon Lakeside Colombo, Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts, Golden Isle Travels (Pvt) Ltd., Jetwing Events Pvt. Ltd, Mount Lavinia Group of Hotels, Pegasus Reef Hotel, Serendib Leisure, Taj Sri Lanka, Sunway Holidays, Tangerine Tours (PVT) Ltd. and Walker Tours Pvt Ltd. Approximately 50 travel agents and tour operators were given the opportunity to have one-on-one meetings with the delegates post the press conference. The Sri Lanka Convention Bureau will look to conduct similar road shows in the other cities through 2012.

One of the participants, Serendib Leisure has four properties in Sri Lanka in its portfolio which are the Avani Bentota Resort & Spa, Avani Kalutara Resort, Club Hotel Dolphin and Hotel Sigiriya. Shamindra Balachandran, Senior Marketing Executive, Serendib Leisure said, "This is the first road show in India in which we are participating. The main purpose of our trip here is to create awareness about Sri Lanka's potential as a MICE destination among the Indian travel trade as well as corporate travellers and to learn more about the market.

We are also looking at the possibility of appointing a GSA in India to look after our interests here." He added that their hotels were fully equipped to meet the needs of Indian travellers, including chefs trained in Indian cuisine.

- Travel Biz Monitor