Sri Lanka welcomes Chinese travellers

The Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, SriLankan Airlines and SriLankan ground handling agencies concluded a successful road show in Shenzhen and Guangzhou which was held from March 23 to 24. The road show in Guangzhou was held on the sidelines of the Annual Guangzhou International Travel Fair (GITF).

With the assistance of the tourism authorities in Shenzhen and Guangzhou, the Sri Lankan team led by Ambassador Karunatilaka Amunugama presented the island as an attractive travel destination, making the prospective travelers of the area aware of the peaceful environment now prevailing in Sri Lanka after the 30 year conflict.

In Shenzhen, the tourism officials and the representatives of the Sri Lankan ground handling agencies held effective one to one meetings with the local travel agencies and media where they discussed common issues pertaining to promoting Sri Lanka in the Shenzhen travel market.

Although this is the fourth time Sri Lanka participated at GITF, this is the first time the country is promoted in Guangzhou after the complete eradication of terrorism from the island. Sri Lanka's Ambassador to China Karunatilaka Amunugama spoke on the current political and economic situation of Sri Lanka and the steps Sri Lankan authorites have taken in recent time to welcome tourists, particularly from China.

He also explained the development infrastructure which had added tremendously to boosting the travel industry in Sri Lanka. The Ambassador said that in keeping with President Mahinda Rajapaksa's vision of "Visit Sri Lanka 2011", all efforts are made by the respective authorities to position Sri Lanka as a key travel destination to visit in the coming year and invited the travel agencies and the media to work together with Sri Lanka tourism at this opportune moment. Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau Director (Director Marketing) Madubhani Perera sapoke on the specialized promotional plan of Sri Lanka in China, particularly in Shenzhen and Guangzhou and emphasized on the increased number of familiarization tours which will be organized for the Chinese travel agencies and media within this year and also on the launching of the advertising campaign scheduled for the year.

Addressing a much needed requirement in promoting Sri Lanka in Southern China, which is to expand travel routes from China to Sri Lanka, the Ambassador and the tourism officials held fruitful discussions with the President and the senior management of China Southern Airlines. As a result, China Southern Airlines agreed to work closely with the SriLankan Airlines to expand air connectivity to Bangkok and other destinations aiming to add Colombo as their next destination.

The Ambassador also held discussions with Nanhu Travel Services, a leading Charter Flight Organizer in Guangzhou, on arranging special charter flights from Guangzhou to Colombo specially at Chinese National Holiday periods where there is a significant increase in outbound travel in China. Ambassador Amunugama met the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) Guangzhou President to discuss investment promotion programs related to tourism during this visit.

With over 7000 members in and around Guangdong province, CCPIT Guangzhou is the leading institution representing economic and trade sectors in the area.

Several local media namely Foshan Television, Travel Logue Magazine, China Southern Television, Guangzhou Transportation Radio, New Express Newspaper, Foshan Radio and China Southern Daily held exclusive interviews with Sri Lanka's Ambassador and officials of Sri Lanka Tourism and carried articles and programmes in their respective media, giving Sri Lanka Tourism much needed coverage in local media.

The Tourism Boards of the Provincial Governments of Shenzhen and Guangzhou extended their support to Sri Lanka's promotional efforts by attending the road shows and exchanging their ideas with the participants.

At the GITF, the Sri Lanka pavilion projected main tourist attractions of Sri Lanka with SriLankan Airlines, Aitken Spence Travels, Jetwing Travels, Walkers Tours and Lanka Sports-Reizen which attracted over 10,000 visitors in three days.