Sri Lanka promoted as exotic travel destination in Sweden

The Embassy of Sri Lanka in Sweden in partnership with Lotus Travel organised an informative session on Sri Lanka tourism on 19 February at the Embassy. This is the first of a series of customer events being organised during 2020 in association with leading travel agencies in Sweden. Lotus Travel is a reputed Swedish travel agency which arranges guided group trips, theme trips and tailor-made trips to selected countries, mainly in Asia including Sri Lanka.

Welcoming the guests, Ambassador Sudantha Ganegama Arachchi said that tourism is a major sector of the Sri Lankan economy and it plays an important role in promoting Sweden-Sri Lanka relations through people-to-people contacts. He noted that Sri Lanka has emerged as a popular destination offering both business opportunities and unique travel experiences. 

Ambassador Ganegama Arachchi stated that, following the Easter Sunday attacks in April 2019, the fast recovery of the Sri Lanka tourism industry was remarkable and Sri Lanka remains an attractive travel destination to Scandinavian travellers who annually look for new exotic destinations. He thanked Sweden for being the first country in the European Union for removing the travel advisory on Sri Lanka which resulted in sending a positive signal to the world that Sri Lanka is a safe travel destination.

Lotus Travel CEO Elby Drewsen thanked the Embassy for the initiative to build close collaborations with Swedish travel agencies for reaching out to a wider audience of Swedish travellers. Representatives from Lotus Travel discussed their experiences in Sri Lanka and shared details of the different tour packages to Sri Lanka offered by the company. Commercial Secretary of the Embassy Yasoji Gunawardana made a presentation on different segments of Sri Lanka tourism such as the country’s stunning beaches, unique wildlife, exotic birds, health and wellness, adventure travel and sustainability. 

More than 60 people attended the event from various parts of Sweden. The event concluded with a quiz which drew three lucky winners, and a dinner reception which served authentic Sri Lankan food.