German tour operators experience Sri Lankan splendour on fam tour

Sri Lanka Tourism recently organised a familiarisation tour for ten key German tour operators in collaboration with Oman Air, as an effort to promote Sri Lanka as an exclusive tourist destination among German tourists. The fam tour was held from 6-9 October. The tour operators had the opportunity of exploring Sri Lanka and to build business links with key tour operators and hoteliers. The German visitors had an amazing experience of travelling to historical destinations and admiring the natural beauty of Sri Lanka. 

This tour included important destinations such as Negombo, Sigiriya, Kandy and Wadduwa, giving them a taste of cultural heritage as well as exploring the wildlife and the natural habitat of Sri Lanka , for they had the opportunity of watching the elephant gathering in Minneriya. A B2B session was also held on 9 October, with the participation of 40 local hoteliers and tour operators. The Hotel Association of Sri Lanka (THASL) and the Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators contributed to this event by organising the transport and accommodation.

In 2015, a total number of 1.8 million tourist arrivals have been reported while 2016 has recorded 1.5 million for the nine months up to September 2016, of which 97,863 included German visitors. 

The top ten tourist arrivals have been from India, China, U.K, Germany, France, Australia, U.S.A, Russia and Canada.