The Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion campaign “Mega Tourism Caravan” was successfully held in Ukraine from 2-3 October in the second largest city of the Ukraine, Kharkov. The major events in the campaign in Kharkov included two workshops conducted at “Kharkiv Palace Hotel”. The two workshops were conducted in collaboration with reputed tour operators”Join Up” and “News Travels”. Approximately 125 and more than 100 representatives of the tourism industry in Ukraine attended, respectively, in these events.
Ambassador Udayanga Weeratunga conducted a very informative and educative presentation on Sri Lanka as a tourist destination at the two Workshops on 2 October 2013. During the presentation he covered salient points such as history, climatic conditions, major tourist attractions, major cities, visa procedures and recent infrastructure developments in the spheres’ of socio – economic and tourism. During the workshops the attendees were presented with many promotional materials including a Catalogue on Sri Lanka Tourism in Russian language containing information about the history, people, festivals, visa procedures, currency, cuisine, culture and heritage of Sri Lanka.
The other promotional events in Kharkov included the event held on 3 October 2013 at the shopping mall “Caravan” which is a famous shopping and entertainment center. Handicrafts of “Laksala” were displayed at the event attracting a large number of visitors to the Sri Lanka stand. Performances of the Sri Lankan dancing troupe, led by veteran artiste Chandana Wickramasinghe, including the Perehara which travelled through the mall was a major attraction at the Shopping Mall event. Distribution of booklets, leaflets, T-shirts and gift packs were carried out at the venue and Sri Lanka tea was served to more than one thousand visitors.
During the promotional campaign in Kharkov, Ambassador Udayanga Weeratunga met the Mayor of the Kharkov Mr. Gennady A. Kernes. The two sides exchanged views on bilateral relations and issues of mutual interest including tourism industry and cultural relations. The Sri Lankan Ambassador explicitly explained to the mayor on the “Mega Tourism Caravan” and other tourism promotional campaigns conducted in CIS countries.
On 4 October the “Mega Tourism Caravan” arrived at the fifth largest city of the Ukraine, Donetsk and conducted promotional events until 6 October 2013. The city is known as the “City of a Million Roses “and the city today remains the centre for Ukraine's coal mining and a steel industry centre.
The main events in Donetsk were workshops conducted for tour and travel agents and the meeting between the Ambassador and the Governor of the Donetsk Region as well as the acting mayor of the City. The first Workshop was conducted for 100 travel agents and the second workshop was conducted in collaboration with the travel company “Join Up”.
At the meeting with the Governor of the Donetsk region and the Acting Mayor, Ambassador Udayanga Weeratunga explained about the “Mega Tourism Caravan” and other tourism promotional campaigns conducted in CIS countries. Both the Governor and the mayor, whilst extending their best wishes for the campaign assured all possible support to the Ambassador and team during their stay in Donetsk.
During the week end the major crowd puller of the promotional campaign was the Sri Lankan Night held at the Palace of Culture in Donetsk. The three-hour long cultural show performed by the Sri Lankan dance troupe enthralled and mesmerized the audience with many traditional dances, drum fusion, mask dancing, drum orchestra and a combination of folk songs. The photo exhibition of 120 photos covered the visits of His Excellency Mahinda Rajapaksa, President of Sri Lanka to the Russian Federation, Ukraine and Republic of Kazakhstan. It also covered major tourist destinations of the country such as Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Dambulla, Kandy, Sigiriya, Pinnawela and Nuwara Eliya along with scenic and pristine beaches, Sri Lankan cuisine, traditional dancing and wild life.
During the shopping mall events which were conducted for three consecutive days in the City of Million Roses, the traditional dancing performances in Sri Lanka, distribution of leaflets/souvenirs, display of tourism promotional videos and serving Sri Lankan tea were successfully undertaken. This event of the campaign was very successful as it attracted a large number of visitors to the shopping mall during the weekend.
The Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau was the key sponsor of the campaign.
Embassy of Sri Lanka
Moscow
7 October 2013
