On March 15, 2019 His Excellency Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka to the Russian Federation, joined by Madame Sanja Jayatilleka, attended the roadshow in Moscow, organized by the Sri Lankan Tourism Promotion Bureau with the assistance of the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Russia, to promote Sri Lanka as a top tourist destination in the Russian market. A similar event will be held in St. Petersburg, the cultural capital of the Russian Federation.
The roadshow is a very useful platform for representatives of tourism sectors of both countries – Sri Lanka and Russia – to establish direct cooperation with each other, learn more about the respective markets and explore opportunities for mutual contribution towards further growth of the number of Russian tourists, visiting Sri Lanka.
The event began with the lighting of a traditional oil lamp by H. E. Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka, Madame Sanja Jayatilleka, Mrs. Madubhani Perera, Marketing Director of the SLTPB, Mr. Mahen Kariyawasam, Former President of the Sri Lanka Inbound Tour Operators Association, and Mr. Alexander Delezha, Deputy Head of the External Affairs Department at the Rossiya Airlines.
While welcoming more than 40 representatives of Russian travel agencies as well as 13 delegates of Sri Lankan destination management companies (DMC) and hotels that gathered at the seminar, Ambassador Jayatilleka drew particular attention to a huge potential of the Russian market as a destination, in which the SLTPB should carry out promotional activities. Ambassador Jayatilleka also encouraged the Russian tour operators and Sri Lankan travel agents to work closely together, as they represent one of the major ties between the two countries.
Further, Mrs. Madubhani Perera, SLTPB Marketing Director, delivered a presentation on the appeal of Sri Lanka as a tourist destination due to its cultural and historic heritages and various types of leisure, offered to visitors of the island. The official part concluded with Mr. Alexander Delezha addressing the gathering with a presentation.
The second part of the occasion was dedicated to B2B meetings between Sri Lankan and Russian travel agents and DMCs.
