The Sri Lanka Embassy in Brazil, in collaboration with Aitken Spence Travels of Sri Lanka, organised the first ever familiarisation tour for Brazilian tour operators and destination promoters from 3 to 10 December 2014.

Twelve leading tour operators and destination promoters participated in this program. During the nine-day familiarization program, Brazilian tour operators and destination promoters visited many important touristic places including the Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage, Kandalama, Sigiriya, Polonnaruwa, Habarana, Kandy, tea plantations in Nuwara Eliya, the Yala National Park, the Galle Dutch Fort, Ahungalla, Balapitiya, Kosgoda and Waskaduwa.
Speaking at the welcome dinner on 3 December at the Hotel Taj Samudra, Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Brazil, Raja Edirisuriya said that with its unique touristic spots, Sri Lanka would become one of the favourite destinations in Asia for Brazilian tourists. Speaking further, the Ambassador said that the familiarisation tour was only the first step of a series of activities to promote Sri Lanka tourism in Brazil and other Latin American countries.

Ambassador Edirisuriya, referring to a study by Euromonitor International, emphasised the importance of frequent engagement in promotional activities in Brazil which has a population of around 200 million. According to Euromonitor International, the number of outbound tourist trips from Brazil continued to increase strongly in 2013, growing by more than 12% to reach 9.1 million trips. This increase was well above Latin America´s average of 7% for the same year.
At the end of the tour, during a special dinner at Hotel Vivanta by Taj, fascinated participants expressed their enthusiastic support to promote Sri Lanka as a unique tourist destination in Brazil and in other Latin American countries.
Financial assistance for the program was extended by Aitken Spence Travels while Etihad Airlines provided discounted air tickets for the delegation.

Source :http://www.ft.lk/2014/12/22/brazilian-tour-operators-to-promote-sri-lanka-tourism/