Sri Lanka Tourism yesterday disassociated itself from an image carried in a tourism promotional article in a state-run newspaper, coinciding with the launch of Sri Lanka Tourism’s new brand identity ‘Small Miracle’ aimed at attracting more tourists to the country.
The controversial image depicting Lord Buddha on the back of a woman was carried in an article along with the promotional article titled “Miracles do happen in Sri Lanka”- the theme of the tourism promotional campaign. The image has drawn protests from various quarters including Buddhist monks.
Sri Lanka Tourism in a statement said, the usage of the image could give the impression that it was part of the promotional material, designed and developed on behalf of Sri Lanka Tourism’s ‘Small Miracle’ campaign. “Sri Lanka Tourism categorically states that the image used in the article is not material produced or approved by Sri Lanka Tourism Promotions Bureau for its promotional campaign.
For reasons best known to the writer of the article, this image was obtained irresponsibly from a personal blog site and not through a credible source. Had there been a need for supporting images associated with the campaign, such images should have been ideally sourced only through Sri Lanka Tourism,” the statement added.
The statement said, months prior to the launch of the new brand identity, Sri Lanka Tourism obtained the blessings of the Maha Sangha Advisory Council of the Ministry of Tourism in Anuradhapura after presenting the campaign’s vision and proposed promotional material.“The new brand identity is an integral part of the repositioning strategy of Sri Lanka Tourism, and comes at an opportune time with the dawning of a new era of peace in Sri Lanka, where there are much expectations and opportunities in the tourism industry.
“Sri Lanka Tourism disassociates itself with the image published by the newspaper and expresses strong concerns over the use of this form of imagery, which is culturally offensive not only to Buddhists but also to people of other religions,” the statement said. |
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