Indian and Sri Lankan Tourism stakeholders before the official exchange of MoUs. Picture by Dinesh Perera.
Sri Lanka is going to take concrete steps in the near future to build up the infrastructure to attract Indian tourists. The Indian outbound tourist market represents one of the largest growing markets in the world and accounts for the largest amount of arrivals to Sri Lanka. As part of this strategy the Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Sri Lanka Tourism and the Sri Lankan Association of Inbound Tour Operators to promote growth. As an initial measure, the TAAI annual conference this year is to be held in Colombo from the 19-21 of April.
As part of the broader Colombo tourism strategy approval has already been granted for special facilities at the Bandaranaike International Airport for the special handling of high spending gaming travellers from the airport itself whose main target audience is expected to be from India.
TAAI plans to bring investors to the conference to establish partnerships with local firms for the expansion of gaming and other enterprises which remain vastly untapped. The plans were made public on 24 February at the Ramada Hotel at a joint press conference from TAAI and Sri Lanka Tourism.
Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga called the planning part of the ‘turning point’ strategy of Sri Lankan tourism. Ranatunga went on to say that Sri Lanka should become a hub for international travellers. The TAAI conference is expected to bring in 500 delegates with over 50 delegates from reputable media institutions.
The opening day will be held at the BMICH with other B2B meeting sessions planned at the Cinnamon Grand. TAAI President Jyoti Mayal was unimpressed with the scale of the Sri Lanka-India travel business. Mayal noted that even if only 1% of Indians were to visit Sri Lanka that would account for a sizable increase in the scale of the travel industry in Sri Lanka.
Mayal called on the Sri Lankan industry to take more proactive measures to target high spending Indians calling on decision-makers to realise the potential in multi-day Indian weddings. Smaller Indian weddings are expected to last 3 days while the average length is between 10-15 days. The Indian wedding industry is expected to be a US$ 50 billion industry in the short term.
Mayal hoped to rebuild relations beyond what existed before COVID-19. Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau Head Kimarli Fernando noted that there were many sites in Sri Lanka of significance to the Indians through the Ramayan and the scope to increase wellness-based travel had grown exponentially due to the social distancing brought about by COVID-19.
Tourism Ministry Secretary S Hettiarachchi noted that though there are yet to be announcements about the expansion of the gaming industry in Sri Lanka the government was very happy to see the potential to earn foreign currency at the moment. Sri Lanka Tourism has promoted a multiple entry long term visa for Indian tourists that will help reduce pain points for returning high spending Indian travellers.
Sri Lanka Travel Feneteko