The second event of Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau’s (SLTPB) Australian Roadshows was heralded as an overwhelming success. Eclipsing other tourism roadshows by generating more delegates than ever before in Brisbane, the roadshow attracted 74 Australian travel agents, media and tour operators.
Australia’s largest outbound travel agency, Flight Centre showed exceptionally strong attendance, which bodes well for arrivals into Sri Lanka.
Other companies represented included Wend Wu Tours and Infinity Holidays – two of Australia’s foremost tour operators – as well as many niche wildlife, surf, and nature specialists.
Addressing the delegation, which also included representatives from 26 Sri Lankan based tourism suppliers, SLTPB’s Director of Marketing Madubhani Perera said that Australia is currently the seventh most important nation for tourism arrivals into Sri Lanka and is on a strong growth curve of 9% last year, with a target of 70,000 arrivals offered for 2016.
The roadshows in Australia are just one of the strategies that SLTPB is leveraging over the coming year to increase awareness in Australia, which is proving to be a significant growth market in years to come.
The event, held at the five star Sofitel hotel in Brisbane’s central business district, also featured a key note address from Mr Anton Philip Swan, honorary consul general for Sri Lanka in Brisbane as well as a traditional oil lamp lighting ceremony.
Guests were treated to a three-course dinner, nearly two hours’ worth of intensive B2B meetings between Australian and Sri Lankan travel industry partners and nine lucky Australians even won a range of fully hosted fact finding trips to Sri Lanka courtesy of Pledge Holidays, Golden Isle, Cinnamon Air, Singapore Airlines, Bernard Tours, Airwings Tours, Hawk Travel and Lanka Sportreizen. (Source: http://www.travelweekly.com.au).
Sri Lanka Travel Feneteko