Airbnb ties knot with Sri Lanka Tourism | Daily News

Airbnb ties knot with Sri Lanka Tourism

Minister Harin Fernando, Airbnb Country Manager for India and Sri Lanka, Amanpreet Bajaj, SLTDA Chairman Kavan Ratnayaka and SLTDA Director General Upali Ratnayaka and-Head of Strategic Partnerships, APAC - Airbnb Thao Nguyen at the agreement signing event. Picture by Vipuala Amarasinghe
Minister Harin Fernando, Airbnb Country Manager for India and Sri Lanka, Amanpreet Bajaj, SLTDA Chairman Kavan Ratnayaka and SLTDA Director General Upali Ratnayaka and-Head of Strategic Partnerships, APAC - Airbnb Thao Nguyen at the agreement signing even

The world’s largest community driven hospitality platform, Airbnb yesterday entered into a strategic partnership with Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) to bring more travellers to Sri Lanka by launching over 40 bookable experiences across Sri Lanka, designed and led by locals. Through this Asia-first partnership, Airbnb and SLTDA will work together to take local experience of hosts onto the Airbnb platform and help local people from across Sri Lanka share their passion and interests with travelers from around the world.

Travellers can now choose from more than 40 Airbnb experiences in Sri Lanka designed and led by local experts. Sri Lankan hosts offer a wide range of experiences, from heritage trails in Galle to surfing experiences in Mirissa and adventure walks in national parks to discovering the best local food spots in Colombo. Speaking at the official launch of the event in Colombo yesterday, Minister of Telecommunication and Digital Infrastructure, Harin Fernando said the partnership would help create much needed opportunities for local economy as well as for Sri Lanka’s budding entrepreneurs.

Airbnb Country Manager for India and Sri Lanka, Amanpreet Bajaj said Sri Lanka has enchanted travellers across the world due to its breathtaking beauty, warm hospitality and the rich cultural heritage.

“We are excited to be in this beautiful country. We believe Airbnb can make travelling not only magical, also easy for travelers across the world. We are see Sri Lanka becoming one of the key trending destinations.”

Bajaj said, travel and tourism industry is one of the key focus areas for Sri Lanka. There is a strategic tourism road map to increase opportunities for the local people by making travel and tourism contributes more to the GDP while creating multiple jobs.

“We are launching an inspirational future for local people and communities which is powered by the people. It benefits the local tourism industry and most importantly it creates entrepreneurial opportunities for all,” he added.

SLTDA Chairman Kavan Ratnayaka speaking at the event said that SLTDA is very supportive of this initiative and excited to be working on this project.

“We see you as future of travel”, Ratnayaka said adding that the partnership with Airbnb and various initiatives taken by the SLTDA to develop the industry would take Sri Lanka tourism towards the 7 billion revenue mark by 2020 and beyond. He also added that SLTDA intends to do authentic and diverse tourism in a sustainable manner in Sri Lanka. 

 


Add new comment