The Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI), the largest tourism organisation in India, returns to Sri Lanka after 18 years with airline partner SriLankan Airlines for their 67th Convention, set to take place from July 6 – 9 in Colombo.
“As an airline that is singularly committed to growing tourism in the country and accounts for about 45 percent of the Indian tourists arriving in Sri Lanka, SriLankan Airlines takes pride in being part of the Indian travel trade’s premier annual event,” national carrier SriLankan airline said in a statement.
The convention is expected to invigorate Indian outbound travel to Sri Lanka following several years of setbacks.
The association plays a leading role in shaping India’s outbound tourism and represents all stakeholders in the Indian travel industry including airlines, tour operators, hotels and transport companies.
This year’s convention is expected to draw close to 450 agents and 50 international travel media personalities, some of whom are booked to fly to Sri Lanka on SriLankan Airlines.
A main theme of the 2023 TAAI convention is to strengthen regional tourism, which coincides with SriLankan Airlines’ regional hub strategy, with its prime location in the Indian Ocean extending connections to multiple countries to the north, east and west of India.
A position which has made SriLankan Airlines and Colombo a preferred carrier and transit hub, respectively, for many Indian travellers heading to and from the Middle East, the Far East, Europe, Australia and the Maldives. SriLankan Airlines currently operates 85 weekly flights between Colombo and the Indian cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kochi, Trivandrum, Chennai, Trichy and Madurai.
We want to continue growing our presence in India with a strategic focus on leisure and MICE travellers and will introduce more flights and cities to our Indian service in the future. It is therefore exciting to collaborate with TAAI on their biggest calendar event, which serves as a strong starting point for a renewed future of travel between India and Sri Lanka,” Dimuthu Tennakoon, Head of Worldwide Sales & Distribution of SriLankan Airlines, said.
Sri Lanka Travel Feneteko