Sri Lanka Tourism blitz on Sony Six for Sanga farewell

Sri Lanka Tourism will show case the beauty of Sri Lanka on the theme ‘8 wonderful experiences in 8 wonderful days’ in the focused markets of India, Middle East and UK apart from the other countries that Sony Six will relay its live broadcast announced which accounted for 40% of the arrivals into Sri Lanka as at end July 2015, said Sri Lanka Tourism Promotions Bureau Chairman Dr. Rohantha Athukorala. 

“It is a fact that Kumar Sangakkara is undoubtedly the most impactful tourism brand ambassador that Sri Lanka has had and it will be interesting to see one can place a value on brand ‘Kumar’ on the overall Sri Lanka brand that is valued at $ 61 billion dollars as per Brand Finance UK,” he voiced. 

Sangakkara made his test debut against South Africa in 2000, has so far played 131 test matches and has scored 12,271 test runs, inclusive of 38 test centuries and 52 half centuries.

Sony Six, India’s premier sports entertainment channel, is owned and operated by MSM India. The company is well known for exclusively broadcasting some of the world’s largest as well as renowned international sporting properties like The Pepsi IPL, 2014 FIFA World Cup, UEFA EURO 2016, Qualifiers for UEFA EURO 2016, European Qualifiers for 2018 FIFA World Cup, 2018 FIFA World Cup, TNA, The Australian Open Tennis Championship, The NBA and The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Since its inception, the channel has successfully managed to target the youth of India through a mix of sports and entertainment.

There are six segments of high definition show reel that has been shared by Sri Lanka Tourism that will be broadcasted during the 2nd test between Sri Lanka and India whilst the Sony Six production team has also toured across the country and captured footage that mixes culture and heritage linked to the ‘8 wonderful experiences in 8 wonderful days’ which will capture the viewership in the focused market, said Athukorala. 

“This, together with the below the line activation we do of tourism road shows and travel and trade fairs we activate in the focused market will generate a ‘push’ and ‘pull’ among potential travellers,” commented Athukorala.

July saw an all-time high surge in arrivals at 31.2% crossing a million arrivals and tourism receipts touching a $1.3 million dollars which augurs well for the country, he said. 

“However, the worry is the fast-tracking pace of the informal sector that accounts for 49% of the industry whilst the formal business entities are flat on top line which needs focused policy support for correction,” voiced Dr. Athukorala.