A record 64 companies from Sri Lanka will be participating for the World Tourism Market that will be held from November 2 to 5 at ExCeL London.

The interest for Britain as a destination is the key for the increased number of participants Sri Lanka Tourism Authority’s Chameera Peiris said.

“UK is a key market for Sri Lanka and the strong Sterling Pound also gives them better buying power in Sri Lanka. This makes Sri Lanka a cheap destination for them.”

Due to this the theme of the Sri Lankan stand is Tea and beaches which are some of the most sought after attractions from British travellers. “We will be also talk about our other products as well.” “Sunday Times UK has ranked Sri Lanka as no 1 destination to travel, so we are taking that into WTM as well and this too will be an additional tool for Sri Lanka.”

More than 50,000 senior travel industry professionals, government ministers and international press, visit ExCeL – London every November to network, negotiate and discover the latest industry opinion and trends at WTM. The event, now in its 36th year, generates more than £2.5 billion of travel industry contracts.

World Travel Market has grown beyond belief in the past four decades. 40 countries, 221 exhibitors and 9,000 trade visitors took part in the first ever WTM at London Olympia in 1980.

Two moves (Earls Court in 1992 and ExCeL in 2002) and 36 years later, now WTM facilitates £2.5 billion in industry deals and has around 5,000 exhibitors from 186 countries and regions and more than 50,000 participants.