The Sri Lanka Food and Cultural Festival – 2017, a Sri Lankan Tourism Consumer Promotional Event which was jointly organised by the Consulate General of Sri Lanka in Sydney and the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, was held at Tumbalong Park, Darling Harbour from 25th to 26th November, 2017.
An event of this nature was held in Sydney for the first time and it was a great success with the presence of Sri Lankan Travel Trade as well as a large number of Australian visitors who enjoyed Sri Lankan festival environment at this event.
The main objective of this consumer promotion was to create awareness among Australian travel community that Sri Lanka is now a most preferred destination for leisure and holidays.
Major activities at this two day festival included the exhibition and sale of Sri Lankan products, tasting of Sri Lankan food and Ceylon Tea, performances by Chandana Wickremasinghe dance troupe, question and answer sessions with give aways, video presentation on Sri Lanka, distribution of promotional materials and selling of tour packages by Sri Lankan Travel Trade at the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Pavilion.
The Event attracted a large audience of business community, professionals, media, tour operators and general public including Australians as well as Sri Lankan expatriates. It generated an awareness among Australian travellers, enabling them to choose Sri Lanka as a top destination to make their next visit.
Four Sri Lankan Restaurants based in Sydney set up food stalls selling a variety of Sri Lankan cuisine. Consulate General of Sri Laka in Sydney organised a stall for Ceylon Tea and promoted tea sampling by courtesy of the Sri Lanka Tea Board. In addition, seven trade stalls were put up by Sri Lankan companies based in Colombo/Australia exhibiting/selling Sri Lankan handicrafts, batiks, paintings, ethnic food, gems and jewellery etc.
The event was officially inaugurated by Mr. Damien Tudehope, State MP, Epping and two other Members of Parliament namely; Mr. Kevin Conolly, State MP, Riverstone and Mr. Hugh McDermott, MP. Member for Prospect also joined the opening ceremony.
Subsequent to the two day consumer promotion, a Business Networking and Tourism Road Show was organised for a 35 member Travel Trade delegation from Sri Lanka on 27th November 2017 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Sydney. 150 invited participants including NSW based outbound travel operators, wholesalers and retailers attended the Networking Session followed by cultural performances and raffle draws with give a ways over dinner. Ms. Rhonda Piggott, Director of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade was the chief guest at this function.
Consulate General of Sri Lanka
Sydney
6th December 2017
