Business Times

Sri Lanka Tourism needs tagline-PATA Chairman

By Natasha Gunaratne

Sri Lanka tourism needs to invest in a comprehensive marketing campaign through heavy investments in research and product development and a tagline, approved by the key stakeholders in the industry. In an interview with the Business Times, Chairman of Jetwing Hotels and the regional Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Hiran Cooray said a tagline for the country is important.


Hiran Cooray

“The more we continue without one, the more we miss out,” he said. Tourism is on the rise in Sri Lanka with around 2 to 2.5 million tourists targeted by 2016 but proper research and planning is necessary.
The earlier proposed tagline ‘Sri Lanka: Small Miracle’ was abandoned some months back over issues relating to the use of the word ‘small’. Mr. Cooray said the good news for Sri Lanka is that it is not overdeveloped particularly the North and East.

He said many countries in the region are aggressively planning and constantly introducing new products to the market. Singapore has recently undergone rebranding regarding its tagline and Malaysia and Indonesia, specifically Bali, are engaged in aggressive promotions. China and India, where inbound and outbound tourism has improved markedly, are also heavily investing in research, both in product development and marketing. Sri Lanka tourism must also create new experiences and be in the news.

Mr. Cooray said the fact that Sri Lanka hosted the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) this week is an extremely positive development as India will be the largest market for tourists to Sri Lanka. It also has led to infrastructure development and improvements which will benefit the people. “Sri Lanka needs to have more mega events like this,” he said.

On PATA
Mr. Cooray became Chairman of PATA in April 2010 and previously served as Chairman of the PATA Sri Lanka Chapter. He said PATA facilitates marketing and networking by helping destinations, the carriers and other stakeholders. PATA also has a tremendous research outfit called Strategic Intelligence Centre (SIC) which is a widely recognized and respected source of travel and tourism intelligence about the Asia Pacific region. PATA was set up in 1951 after a meeting between twelve Pacific nations in Hawaii and was then known as the Pacific Interim Travel Association. In 1953, it became the Pacific Area Travel Association.

Two more refurbished hotels for Jetwing
Jetwing Hotels is expecting to open two, refurbished luxury hotels in Negombo in December 2010. The first is Blue Oceanic which will be renamed Jetwing Blue with 119 luxury rooms and state of the art conference facilities. The second is Seychelles Hotel which will be renamed as Jetwing Sea with 84 rooms and a luxury spa.

Mr. Cooray said Jetwing has also acquired the Blue Lagoon Hotel in Negombo which is the first resort designed by famed architect, Geoffrey Bawa. Refurbishments will start on the property in July 2010 in collaboration with one of Mr. Bawa’s associates to preserve the architecture and style. This property will be called Jetwing First Resort.

Jetwing is also rebuilding its Yala Safari game lodge which should be operational early next year. Mr. Cooray said the company also has plans for developing some properties in the East, specifically in Kuchchaveli and Uppuveli. He added that Jetwing is also interested in restoring old buildings in Jaffna and has already looked at property to build small boutique hotels.

Top to the page  |  E-mail  |  views[1]
SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend
 
Other Business Times Articles
Govt. grapples with ways of increasing revenue
FTA figures at IIFA Global Business Forum
Telcos should contribute 1% GDP by 2011- TRC
LOLC enters big time hotel business
New SEC chief to address capital market irregularities
Snippets
Sri Lankans say allow private universities
Top Sri Lankan leaders receive global leadership awards
Tall order on education
Conference on 10 years of the Indo-Lanka FTA
Jostling over CEPA
tomorrow BEAUTIFUL: Perfectly genetic
Sri Lanka Tourism needs tagline-PATA Chairman
Central Bank urged to crack the whip on F&G
Richard Peiris in consolidation and core area expansion
Concern over Hayleys investment in Hotel Services -- Fitch
Tudawe Engineering ensures IIFA Awards held in ideal air conditioning comfort
3D TV now in Sri Lanka
Janashakthi speedily expedites flood-related claims
New appointments at Phoenix Ogilvy
Trade unions want Rajapaksa to implement the Workers’ Charter
Crisis for Tourism in Thailand
IMF: Sri Lanka’s deficit has to be improved
EZY Computers for Journalism Awards winners
Lankan mobile phone vendors urge TRC to crack down on phone mafia
Hayleys case study by INSEAD wins top award in Europe
300+ sign up for SL workshop at m-Billionth mobile awards
SLT spreads the wealth of knowledge to Jaffna schools
John Keells Group annual profits increase by 10%
70-year old TFC moves towards recovery
Logiwiz receives OHSAS certification
DFCC: Looking at new investments after ComBank deal
Ceylon Chamber welcomes simplification of tax structure
CIMA has legal right to use FCMA/ACMA
US business guru advises Brandix on being a world class facility
Sri Lankan business mission to Singapore works out well
Inadvertent error in Business Times story
Citi Sri Lanka gets coveted ISO Certification
Private universities: Quality assurance a must
Now that I have a degree, I need a real education

 

 
Reproduction of articles permitted when used without any alterations to contents and a link to the source page.
© Copyright 2010 | Wijeya Newspapers Ltd.Colombo. Sri Lanka. All Rights Reserved.| Site best viewed in IE ver 6.0 @ 1024 x 768 resolution