The Permanent Missions of Sri Lanka to the UN and WTO in Geneva, in collaboration with Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, organized Sri Lanka’s participation at the Swiss International Holiday Exhibition for the second consecutive year, successfully from 01 to 03 November 2019.
The Sri Lanka Pavilion at the Swiss International Holiday Exhibition was inaugurated on 01 November 2019 in the presence of the Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the World Trade Organization in Geneva Ambassador Gothami Silva, the Chief Organizer of the Exhibition Marco Peon and other dignitaries.
The Swiss International Holiday Exhibition, also known as IVIAGGIATORI, is the prestigious tourism event in the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland, which belongs to the network of the most important European tourism fairs. Leading to a perfect trip around the world, through places, peoples and cultures, IVIAGGIATORI is recognised as an ideal event for travellers and people working in the tourism industry.
Sri Lanka Pavilion was a major highlight at this year’s Exhibition. Under the patronage of Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, eight (08) companies from tourism industry took part this year. Sri Lankan traditional cultural performances and Ceylon Tea serving counter attracted more visitors to the Sri Lanka Pavilion. Through the bilateral meetings the industry representatives had with the visitors, a significant number of successful client contacts had been secured. IVIAGGIATORI being a consumer tourism fair, the industry representatives were highly impressed with the number of direct contacts they could build up during the Exhibition and encouraged to have Sri Lanka’s continuous participation at this Exhibition.
With more than 200 stands representing over 30 countries, institutional seminars and thematic events, the 2019 edition of the Swiss International Holiday Exhibition attracted diverse categories of visitors, including families, young couples, singles, students, pensioners, etc. both from Switzerland, as well as from neighbouring Italian regions.
The Swiss tourism market has been classified for years by the World Bank as the second richest in the world in terms of per capita income and spending capacity, and represents the best reservoir for investing in tourism promotion. According to a survey by Visa Europe, Swiss people are the most vacationing people in Europe, with an average of about 3 departures per capita per year, compared to 1.63 recorded in the other European countries. IVIAGGIATORI of Lugano serves as one of the main gateways to this richest tourism market in the world. It is noted that the Swiss tourism market is Sri Lanka’s 15th largest market attracting nearly 26,337 and 23,701 Swiss tourists during January – October period in 2018 and 2019 respectively.
During the event, Sri Lanka was recognised and awarded as “A place of charm that works towards the future” by the Swiss Tourism Awards 2019. The Swiss Tourism Award is a prestigious international recognition awarded in Switzerland for selected destinations, which has an excellent reputation on the Web, in particular promoting destinations and developing new forms of sustainable tourism and alternatives to the traditional mass tourism concepts. Selected through a group of experts in tourism field, the award is granted based on the most striking potentials of the destination’s tangible and intangible heritage towards the Swiss audience.
