The Embassy of Sri Lanka in Stockholm organized a Sri Lanka Tourism promotional event in partnership with Emirates and the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Sweden Chapter. With the presence of many Swedish tour operators and travel writers, eleven (11) Sri Lankan Destination Management Companies (DMCs) participated in this event.
Speaking at the event Ambassador of Sri Lanka in Sweden Sudantha Ganegama Arachchi explained the untapped potential in Sweden for Sri Lanka tourism and the strategy to attract more Swedish travelers to Sri Lanka. He stated that, in Sweden, tourism promotional events targeting the travel companies would be more effective than events targeting the end customers.
In his address, Chairman of PATA Robert Hallin appreciated the efforts of the Embassy and agreed to support organizing similar events in future. Country Manager of Emirates Bjorn Ekegren made a presentation on the airline and its new developments. Commercial Secretary of the Embassy Yasoji Gunawardana made a presentation on Sri Lanka tourism, focusing on selected segments such as golf, adventure and sustainable tourism as there is a strong demand for these segments in Sweden.
The prototype of the first Sri Lanka tourism digital application ‘So Sri Lanka’ was also launched at this event. The mobile application provides relevant information on Sri Lanka tourism including visa application process, travel and accommodation options, major tourist attractions and sight-seeing via virtual reality technology. At the request made by the Embassy, this application was developed by Rebirth Technologies (Pvt) Ltd with the support of the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau. Minister of the Embassy Harsha Vithanaarachchi presented the features of the application to the participants. While appreciating this timely initiative for promoting Sri Lanka tourism through digital means, they made suggestions to improve the application. The final version will be made available in the App store and Play store by mid-April 2019.
A raffle draw was held, offering an air ticket to Sri Lanka with local hospitality as the first prize and an air ticket to Dubai as the second. The final event for the evening was the B2B session between Sri Lankan and Swedish travel companies. The visiting Sri Lankan DMCs were appreciative of the responses received from their counterparts and agreed to participate in similar events organized by the Embassy in future. The event ended with a dinner reception.
