Russian couple wins tourist promotion holiday package

Mikhalev Vitaly and Belova Tatiana, a Russian husband and wife duo were randomly selected and won a gift of a six night, seven-day Sri Lanka holiday package offered by the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau.

They were the first tourist couple to arrive at the Bandaranaike International Airport surpassing the record of 1,005,605 visitors in 2012.

During the first eleven months of this year the tourism industry surpassed the record-breaking 1,005,605 visitors it attracted during 2012 thus marking 2013 as another record year for tourists.

To celebrate the event a special program was held at the Bandaranaike International Airport, where a Russian couple was selected at random and were presented a surprise gift of a free free holiday package.

They arrived in Sri Lanka for a 17 - day holiday and expected to travel across Sri Lanka. The couple has chosen Sri Lanka as their destination after watching a television program on Sri Lanka, aired by 'Pathnethsa' of Russia.

Sri Lanka Tourism is planning to attract 2.5 million tourists by 2016 under the Mahinda Chinthana policy framework, under the guidance of Minister of Economic Development, Basil Rajapaksa.

The Sri Lanka Tourism industry during the last few years is experiencing rapid growth in visitor arrivals backed by a major promotional campaign launched by the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, covering key tourism destinations.

Having identified China, Russia, India, Japan, South Korea and Middle East Countries as emerging markets, SLTPB executed a new series of promotional activities incorporating the new strategies of the Government. Compared to the previous year, the present number of tourist arrivals indicates a growth of 17 %. Besides, the total revenue also surpassed 1.5 billion US$.Among the series of promotional activities launched, are a three-day mega promotional campaign, already conducted in 2012 in selected cities such as Mumbai, Bangalore, Beijing, Russia and also in many CIS countries ranks very high.

Managing Director of Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, Rumy Jauffer, Director Marketing of Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, Ms. Madubhani Perera, Mervin Fernandopulle - Board Member of Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, Mahen Kariyawasam President of Sri Lanka Inbound tour operators Association, Suresh De Mel President of Small and Medium Tourism Entrepreneurs representatives from the travel and tourism industry warmly welcomed the guests who arrived in Sri Lanka via flight UL 543 from Moscow at 6.15am.