Kuwait Travel Delegation visits Sri Lanka

Tuesday, 4 December 2012 00:07 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

With the view of promoting Sri Lanka as a high-end tourism destination, the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) organised a familiarisation tour for tour operators and media personnel from the State of Kuwait, together with Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators (SLAITO), The Hoteliers’ Association of Sri Lanka (THASL) and Oman Air.

Accordingly, a familiarisation tour was organised last week followed by a one-on-one business meeting session with THASL, SLAITO, and ASMET on last Friday (30) at the Monara Restaurant of the Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism and Hospitality Management (SLITHM – Hotel School).

A number of tour operators, including Ramis Travel Co., Caesars Travel Salmiya BR1, Alshualah Travel, Badur Travel, Aldeera Travel and Tours, Caesars International Travel Co and Kapico Travels and Tourism Co, WLL, participated in this familiarisation tour, which provided a comprehensive picture on the potential of Sri Lanka as a high-end destination.

During the familiarisation tour, SLTPB gave special attention to create the image of Sri Lanka as a fully-fledged destination. Thus, the four-day travel plan was specially arranged to cover the areas of Dambulla, Kandy, Nuwara Eliya and Colombo.

Representing media, two senior journalists – Leslie De Souza from Arab Times and Jinse Moorkanattvkaran Jose from Kuwait Times – took part in the tour. Sulaiman Al Maskari, the Country Manager of Oman Air, was also an active participant in the tour.

SLTPB also took steps to arrange a Business Networking Meeting on last Friday (30), as a part of this familiarisation tour, with the participation of 26 tour operators of Sri Lanka, who are currently active in the region of Middle East.

Commenting on the experience, the visitors said: “We got a huge opportunity to feel the real beauty of Sri Lanka. We also had the great chance of meeting the local tour operators of Sri Lanka and to build up business networks. Sri Lanka has a great potential ahead to attract the tourists from Middle East.”

By the end of October this year, the number of arrivals to Sri Lanka from Middle East amounted to 40,523. For the year 2013, the target has been set to 65,000 arrivals, which is seemingly accessible with the number of promotional activities executed under the guidance of the Ministry of Economic Development.