DMASL to host Digital Summit Asia/ Sri Lanka 2026 this October

From left: Digital Marketing Association of Sri Lanka Vice Presidents and “Digital Summit Asia 2026” Co-Chairs Shalendra Mendis and Gayathri Seneviratne, Sri Lanka Convention Bureau and Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management Chairman Dheera Hettiarachchi, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau Chairman Buddhika Hewawasam, Digital Marketing Association of Sri Lanka President Arjun Jeger, Lotus Tower Colombo Marketing Manager Nirojan Yogeswaran and Digital Marketing Association of Sri Lanka Treasurer Muhammed Gazzaly —Pic by Upul Abayasekara

• Unveils ambitious plans to increase digital marketing’ contribution to National GDP

 By Uma Chandrasiri

Digital Marketing Association of Sri Lanka (DMASL) President Arjun Jeger last week emphasised that revenue brought in through digital marketing agencies currently contribute to 4% of the Sri Lankan Gross Domestic Product and the grouping aims to increase it to 15% during the next few years.

Jeger made this announcement at the media launch of the Digital Summit Asia/Sri Lanka 2026 from 1 to 2 October at Waters Edge Colombo.

Powered by Visa, this year’s summit under the theme “The epicentre” will mark a new chapter as the event expands its focus beyond Sri Lanka to create a regional platform for creativity, collaboration and exchange. The brightest technological minds from all over Asia will convene in Sri Lanka for the event held for the second consecutive year.

The aspiration by the Sri Lankan digital marketing community to boost their support for the country’s digital economy will be promising as Jeger enthuses about a multitude of overseas projects being successfully managed by local agencies.

“A local agency has recently been selected as the 24th in the list of most effective agencies worldwide while last year, a home-grown agency made history as the first Sri Lankan agency to win gold as South Asia’s best digital innovation agency of the year.”

Digital Summit Asia/ Sri Lanka 2026, the first of its kind in Asia, will present invaluable opportunities for local digital marketers to gain knowledge and insight from industry professionals from platforms such as Google, Meta and TikTok.

According to Jeger, digital marketing, in the current professional services landscape surpasses being a mere component of advertising as it has grown to be an integral part of daily life of the 12 million plus Sri Lankan internet users.

“The Ministry of Digital Economy has set a target of revenue from IT services to surpass $ 5 billion by 2030. The IT export revenue is currently around $ 2 billion.”

Tourism Promotion Bureau Chairman Buddhika Hewawasam spoke of a three-pronged development that the bureau is expecting following the success of this year’s summit, which he mentioned as the direct benefits of hosting a summit of this magnitude with the international knowledge base, an induced effect towards potential growth in tourism and the strengthening of the local knowledge base which is extremely vital and timely for the country.

“The Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau has recently launched an interim digital campaign in five countries which we are planning to expand to the rest of the world during the next few years” he added.

Sri Lanka Convention Bureau and Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management chairman, Dheera Hettiarachchi acknowledged the digital summit Asia/Sri Lanka 2026 as a significant milestone in shaping the Sri Lankan economy as well as its digital platforms. “I see the summit as a landmark event for Sri Lanka as well as one with potential to improve the MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, Exhibitions and events) segment of the country” he said.

DMASL Vice President and Summit Co-Chair Gayathri Seneviratne informed the gathering that the 75 plus international speakers consisting of heads of large conglomerates and heads of the AI space, will be offering their expertise, time and insights free of charge at this year’s summit which is a testament to their faith and commitment to the event. “A novelty at this year’s summit is the introduction of breakout sessions which I believe to be yet another first, where participants can step out from an ongoing discussion to convene separately at their discretion. We are further introducing a night summit this year which will enable further networking and collaboration.

Seneviratne is of the view that as a destination, Sri Lanka has immense potential and much to offer the foreign participants beyond the scope of the summit. “We aim to position Sri Lanka as the number one tourist destination in the world” she added.

DMASL Vice President and Summit Co-Chair Shalendra Mendis stated that tickets for the summit are currently available for purchase at the official 

DAMSL website www.damsl.lk “We are offering special passes at discounted rates for students and startups as well as a limited number of free passes to state universities” he said, adding that one category of tickets is already sold out.

The summit is expected to bring together perspectives from across a wide range of industries and digital disciplines including FinTech, MarTech, travel and tourism, retail, technology, media, advertising, e-commerce, data analytics and Artificial Intelligence.

The impressive international speaker lineup includes Dissara Udomdej (Ohm), Yell Worldwide CEO and Founder Naved Qureshi, Voxxy Media Business Head (Southeast Asia) Aneek Ahmed, Outwit Company and the Certified Strategic Marketer platform founder Farah Mehdi, CSAA: Consumer Business at TikTok (ByteDance) client partner Danny Advani, Dot  Media head of content and business Sundar Swaminathan andUber marketing science advisor and former head of global brand and international marketing science Oliver Atkinson amidst many others.

The summit is co-sponsored by Keells, Anchor, Munchee, Revello and Sprite. The category sponsors are as follows- official banking sponsor-Hatton National Bank, official platform growth partner- Roar, official travel partner- Aitken Spence Travels and official technology partner- Hutch. MTV, News First and MBC radio will come in as the official electronic media partners and DailyFT as the official newspaper partner.

DMASL is an organisation of like minded volunteers who have created a platform for individuals to expand their knowledge base and their scope in the digital marketing industry while contributing to the evolution of the industry.