The Embassy of Sri Lanka in Republic of Korea in association with the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) organized Sri Lanka’s pavilion at the Seoul International Tourism Industry Fair (SITIF) in the COEX exhibition center in Seoul from 06 to 09 June2019.
All the major tourist destinations in Asia, Middle East, Europe, and Africa made their presence at the fair, which attracted more than 100,000 visitors.
Chargé d’ Affaires of the Embassy of Sri Lanka in the Republic of Korea, Jagath Abeywarna and Chairman of the SITIF Shin Joong-Mok along with the representatives from the SLTPB and the Sri Lanka Travel Trade ceremonially opened Sri Lanka’s pavilion on 06 June 2019.
Sri Lanka’s pavilion portrayed tourism themes of the island, which earned high praise from visitors. The visitors to the pavilion enjoyed Ceylon tea and Sri Lankan traditional dancing performances.
The Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau won the “Best Folklore Performance Award” at the SITIF for outstanding performances by the Olaboduwa Dancing Academy. The dancing team also had a chance to perform at the SITIF’s official luncheon on 07 June 2019.
In parallel to SITIF, Sri Lankan travel companies successfully held B2B meeting Sessions on 04 June 2019 in Busan, the second biggest city in the Republic of Korea and Seoul on 10 June 2019 with the participation of more than 80 Korean tour operators and media, followed by a dinner reception.
Delivering the opening remarks at the B2B Session in Seoul, Chargé d’ Affaires Abeywarna stated that the situation of the country has returned to normalcy after the Easter Sunday attacks in Sri Lanka, and many countries in the world have relaxed their travel restrictions issued on Sri Lanka. Subsequently, Chargé d’ Affaires Abeywarna requested travel trade and media interlocutors to encourage Korean tourists to visit Sri Lanka.
