Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to India Austin Fernando requested the members of the Outbound Tour Operators Association of India (OTOAI), to support promoting Sri Lanka’s Ramayana Heritage sites among the Indian travelers, which will create a win – win situation for the respective stakeholders. The High Commissioner made this request at a workshop on “Sri Lanka’s Ramayana Heritage Sites”, organized by the Sri Lanka High Commission in association with the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau and the Outbound Tour Operators Association of India (OTOAI) at the High Commission premises on 21 August 2019.
The focus of the workshop was to give a boost to cultural tourism in Sri Lanka through the projection of Sri Lanka’s Ramayana Heritage sites and their historical values to the members of the OTOAI, enabling them to sell the package to their customers as a potential travel product.
In his opening address, High Commissioner Fernando extended a warm welcome to the members of the OTOAI and thanked them for their support in promoting destination Sri Lanka among the outbound travelers in India and for their contribution in bringing the highest number of tourists to Sri Lanka.
High Commissioner Fernando noted the advantages of promoting cultural Tourism in Sri Lanka and challenges in terms of managing visitor flows to Sri Lanka, food preferences of travelers and direct air connectivity. He stated that Ramayana Trail can be considered as a part of cultural tourism element due to historical characters, historical events, cultural sites and related attractions. He further stated that Ramayana Trail would be of assistance to upgrade cultural tourism in Sri Lanka, since this is an untapped and niche segment, and encouraged the OTOAI members to sell the product among the outbound travelers.
Addressing the audience, President of the Outbound Tour Operators Association of India (OTOAI), Mahendra Vakharia highlighted the significance of Sri Lanka’s Ramayana Heritage sites as a tourism package for the Indian travelers and its importance for the OTOAI members to understand the product in detail by participating in workshops, FAM tour programmes and in return to sell the product to the customer.
Assistant Director of the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau Jeevana Fernando made a comprehensive presentation with video footage on Sri Lanka’s Ramayana Heritage sites and tour itineraries.
At the end of the programme, OTOAI members were presented with a certificate for their active participation in the workshop. The workshop was attended by over sixty OTOAI members and media from the travel industry.
As a follow-up to the workshop, an action plan will be prepared by the High Commission incorporating inputs from OTOAI members to promote Sri Lanka’s Ramayana Heritage sites, in India.
