Sri Lanka has received a big boost at the World Travel Mart (WTM) in London, the leading global event for the travel industry.

Attended by over 50,000 international travel trade professionals, the post-pandemic fresh push for destination marketing at the top on-site tourism promotion had been well received by many participants, who commended Sri Lanka’s proactive measures to revive the industry.

“The response received at WTM for Sri Lanka was excellent,” Sri Lanka Tourism Chairperson Kimarli Fernando told the Daily FT.

Sri Lanka Tourism took part in a series of promotional activities at top travel events in the second half of 2021. After a one-year break from physical engagement at global trade fairs, the first of the promotional campaigns was the International French Travel Mart (IFTM) Top Resa in Paris last month, followed by World Travel Mart (WTM) in London, which concluded last week.

Fernando said Sri Lanka was able to showcase several aspects which include; diversity, authentic experiences and compactness. 

“Sri Lanka is all Asia has to offer. The very successful vaccination program, eased health protocols, physical audits and training of all stakeholders were highly commended by the travel trade participants, as most of Asia is not fully opened for tourism yet,” Fernando said.

Early proactive steps by Sri Lanka to vaccinate 63% of the total population and allow international travellers despite COVID through the bio-bubble concept was highly lauded by participants at WTM.

Sri Lanka was invited to be part of the PATA session and the WTM-PR Summit titled ‘Revive and Thrive: Tourism PR in a Post-Pandemic World’.

Participation at the WTM ensures global coverage for Sri Lanka via thousands of international travel trade professionals and buyers who see ‘So Sri Lanka’ branding and hundreds of journalists and influencers who hear about the country’s culture, scenery and heritage.

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