Sri Lanka and its leading leisure firm Aitken Spence kicked off the start of Expo 2015 in Milan by entering into a charter worth $1.3 million with leading Italian tour operator Alpitours.
The agreement, which was presided over by Minister of Tourism and Sports Navin Dissanayake, is expected to draw 8,000 tourists to Sri Lanka.

“We thank the Minister for helping us finalise the deal, which in fact records the covering of the total costs we incurred on setting up the Sri Lankan pavilion at Expo 2015. In fact now it is profit positive on a ruthless P&L basis,” Expo Sri Lanka Commissioner General and Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau Chairman Rohantha Athukorala said.
“The partnership between Alpitours and Aitken Spence will be tied to a top end resort in the south of Sri Lanka which was architectured by an Italian designer whilst the overall cuisine will be done by a specially flown chef from Italy which will include customised animators to cater to the all-inclusive guests that will be branded on a club med business model,” he added.

Aitken Spence Plc Vice President Niranjan Rodrigo also thanked Dissanayake for his intervention. “Given that we have to agree to the logistics of travel, we have to agree on the logistics of travel with SriLankan Airlines, which flies out of Rome, while most of our target demographic will be sourced out of Northern Italy, essentially the industrial side of Italy,” Rodrigo said.
SriLankan Airlines Italian Country Head Lalith Peiris also pledged his full support to Aitken Spence and Alpitours, a partnership which he stated would help to create a new image for Sri Lanka and put the island on the map as a fashionable destination which in turn would lead to many other Club Med brands entering Sri Lanka.

Source : http://www.ft.lk/2015/05/06/sl-spence-ink-1-3-m-deal-with-italy-tour-firm-at-expo-2015/