The Embassies of Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Maldives jointly organised an event promoting their distinctive tourism attractions at prestigious ‘Waranda Club’ in Brussels, Belgium on 09 July 2025. The rich cultures and landscapes of these three South Asian nations and shared commitment to sustainability were highlighted in the event: ‘the Enchanting Trio’ which was attended by EU officials, diplomats, tourism and media professionals in Belgium.
Deputy Managing Director for Asia & Pacific at the European External Action Service (EEAS) of the European Union, Paola Pampaloni was the Chief Guest of the event. In her remarks, she thanked three embassies for their joint effort and mentioned all three countries deserve the attraction of European tourists because of their enchanting tourism beauties. She underlined the European Union’s longstanding partnership with Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Bhutan, particularly in fostering sustainable tourism and how much the industry has contributed to economies of each and the untapped potential of the three countries to be explored by Europeans. She invited all to visit three countries and industry stakeholders to promote them among European tourists.
In her remarks, Pampaloni highlighted “Pekoe Trail”, a 300-kilometer-long distance hiking trail that offers a journey into the heart of Sri Lanka’s stunning hill country landscapes, which was funded by the European Union and USAID to promote sustainable and resilient community-based tourism.
Sri Lanka Ambassador Chandana Weerasena mentioned that Sri Lanka is one of the safest countries to visit today and the ‘diversity’ and ‘compactness’ with many unparalleled attractions make Sri Lanka one of the special destinations in the world tourist map. He also mentioned that both the Government and private sector in Sri Lanka are now keen on sustainable and eco-tourism while promoting wedding tourism, Ayurveda, adventure, MICE etc., to European travellers.
Bhutan Ambassador Tshoki Choden and Maldives Ambassador Geela Ali highlighted their countries’ tourism attractions and specially mentioned that South Asia itself is a place for European travellers to visit at least once in their lives.
Embassy of Sri Lanka
Brussels
23 July 2025
