COLOMBO, (PNA/Xinhua) — Sri Lanka is hoping to make a splash with its post-war tourism industry at the World Tourism Market (WTM) this week, tourism development authorities said here on Monday.
Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) has decided to take part in the event, along with 60 tourism industry partners, a statement from the organization said.
During the event, SLTPB will take steps to conduct several promotional activities to highlight the country’s attractions to the global tourism audience under the title of “Wonder of Asia”.
“The campaign will highlight Sri Lanka’s ‘One Island, Thousand Experiences’ concept, which offers the traveler a complete round tour destination including the experience of beaches, heritage, wildlife, culture, ayurveda, festivals, scenic beauty and adventure,” the statement said.
WTM attracts more than 30,000 visitors, 5,000 trade partners ( exhibitors) and over 3000 journalists around the world each year. More than 1000 travel agents, including over 200 tour operators, are also expected to attend this travel to market Sri Lanka’s booming industry of tourism.
Tourism has boomed in the tropical island of Sri Lanka since the end of a three decade war in 2009.
So far this year 801,210 arrivals have been recorded which is a 15.5 percent increase over the previous year.
The island hopes to attract 1.25 million tourists this year and has set an ambitious target of 2.5 million arrivals by 2016.
One of the key growth markets is China, which has seen a 75 percent increase in 2013.
Chinese arrivals rose from 16,623 to 29,153 in the first nine months of 2013, which is also the highest escalation among the major players in Sri Lanka’s lucrative post-war tourism industry.
China is already the eighth main destination for the local travel sector with projections for a significant increase towards the end of 2013 and the years ahead, industry experts believe.
A large contingent of Chinese tour operators are also expected to arrive in Sri Lanka on a promotional tour on the sidelines of the mega Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) being hosted by Sri Lanka next month.
CHOGM will also be promoted at the WTM since UK is one of the countries attending CHOGM.
The Chinese industry officials will be among 100 tour operators from over a dozen countries that will be flying into Sri Lanka to promote its tourism industry that has tied up with the most important summit held by the 53 countries belonging to the Commonwealth.
The Chinese business delegation is also expected to attend the summit, which kicks off on Sunday.