Sri Lanka Tourism kicks off aggressive media and travel influencer campaign for Russia and Ukraine

Targeting on immediate promotional boost within potential Russian and Ukrainian winter holiday seekers, Sri Lanka Tourism organised massive media and influencer promotion in the months of November/December together with some high profile media and influencer delegations with a combined media reach of 12 million audience (in total circulation and subscriptions) covering both countries. Considering the current global travel trends, this is expected to be an important strategic move for Sri Lanka tourism for a speedy recovery.

Due to the pandemic concerns, travellers are reluctant to make early bookings in advance and much prefer make quick travel decisions by analysing the latest travel updates and recommendations.  Considering the ‘new normal travel patterns’ organising last moment media promotions will strategically position the island as a top of the mind holiday destination during the last moment winter holiday planning for 2021/2022.

Excluding all CIS countries (where Russians travel mostly for work and to visit their relatives), Turkey is the most popular country for Russians (as well as for Ukrainians) by a significant margin; 3.9 million Russian tourists visited the country in January-September 2017 and almost a million more (4.9 million) in the same period in 2018. Besides Turkey, the most popular countries among Russian tourists are: China, Thailand, Spain, Greece, Italy, Cyprus, Germany, UAE, and Tunisia. 

Visa, the international payment company, released its Visa Global Travel Intentions Study and revealed how much money people from different countries spend on a trip. Between 2016 and 2017, Russian travellers spent $ 1,676 per one trip – more than European travellers who spend $ 1,174.  At the same time, 51% of the budget is spent before the trip and 49% at the place of destination; 70% of Russians use bank cards when they plan their travel trips. In 2020 alone, over 12 million Russians travelled abroad which is a 45% decrease from the year before in 2019 (approximately 19.8 million in 2019) and 2.1 million tourists visited Turkey. 

These 11 high prolific travel writers (representing key media publications) and travel influencers (Instagram and YouTube) were invited to Sri Lanka from 21 November to 8 December to increase awareness about the reopening of Destination Sri Lanka for international tourists from 1 October. 

Some of the key publications invited were Vogue Ukraine, Harper’s Bazzar Russia, Total Escape Ukraine and Areoflot Inflight Magazine Russia. Famous Ukrainian Travel bloggers and Instagrammers Yana Usipava (539,000 followers on Instagram) and Maxis and Olha Uzol from the popular YouTube travel vlog have also been part of Sri Lanka Tourism’s media and influencer promotion. 

According to Aeroflot In-flight Magazine Director for Tourism Maria Alikhanova Golikova, “While popular high end destinations for Russians such as Italy, France, Bali (Indonesia) are still on hold to welcome Russian travellers, there is greater opportunity for emerging destinations like Sri Lanka to grab the market attention. Since there is direct flight connection now, Sri Lanka can be easily positioned as top of the mind tropical travel option to consider during the upcoming seasons 2021/2022.”

Ukrainian travel magazine Total Escape Editor Maria Kudimova stated: “By combining amazing beaches with wild safaris, breathtakingly beautiful highlands, rich local cuisines Sri Lanka has all the elements to become a perfect island holiday destination for Ukrainian travellers.”

Popular Ukrainian travel influencer Yana Osipava invited all of her virtual fans to explore Sri Lanka by stating: “First time in Sri Lanka and I was so excited to witness beautiful beaches, great hotels, wild elephants and heritage such as Sigiriya Rock Fortress.”

La Bibliotheque Russia Public Relations Director Yulia Markovchina said: “Sri Lanka has so much to offer for Russian and Ukrainian high-end travel market and potential luxury travellers are still not fully aware about the destination.”

Both media and travel influencer groups travelled separately around the island covering Koggala, Dickwella, Yala, Nuwara Eliya, Kandy,  Habarana and Colombo. Local tourism and hospitality industry partners including Ani Sri Lanka Resort – Dickwella, Amaya Resorts & Spa (Langdale Boutique Hotel by Amaya), Jetwing Yala Hotel, The Fortress Resorts & Spa, The Galle Face Hotel, The Theva Residency Kandy, Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts and Table by Taru joined hands with Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau to undertake the destination promotions.  

Invited media and travel influencers will be expecting share the unique experiences try have enjoyed in Sri Lanka within their millions of travel seeking audiences in Russia and Ukraine and invite them to explore Sri Lanka as their next bucket list destination. 

Overall, with the pandemic lockdown and stages of travel restrictions, Sri Lanka Tourism has continued to undertake various media and travel influencer related promotions to ‘Keep the Sri Lankan Holiday Dream Alive’. The 24 international media personnel and travel influencers were facilitated in Sri Lanka within the last 11 months and reached a global audience of over 25 million via various online news articles, YouTube vlogs, Instagram and Facebook posts, etc. Key source markets were focused on including India, UK, UAE, Russia, Ukraine, USA, Canada and Norway. 

Under Sri Lanka Tourism’s Visiting Journalists and Blogger Programs during the period of 2021, destination Sri Lanka has been featured in many mainstream online news channels and social media platforms. Over 500 various online and social media posts were created about destination Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka was also featured on BBC.travel in May 2021.