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Media Campaign to Boost Post-Tsunami Tourism A former head of the Sri Lanka Tourist Office in New York and currently chairman of Enelar International, Ratnapala says he is focusing on how best to rebuild shattered livelihoods through a revival of the battered tourism industry. From media roundtables to seminars and radio interviews, he is pushing for the need for balanced reporting between conflicting statements by interested parties and for the need to develop consumer confidence to promote tourism as a means of restoring lost livelihoods. Shortly after a roundtable discussion, the San Francisco Chronicle published a special travel feature promoting the tourist attractions of Sri Lanka, unaffected by the tsunami. The following week, Ratnapala urged in a radio interview that ordinary citizens wishing to help rebuild Sri Lanka need only travel there on holiday and enjoy themselves. Additionally, in an op-ed piece in Pacific News wire service, Ratnapala wrote of the damaging impact of foreign government travel advisories in painting entire destinations with "broad brush" warnings. He urged citizens to visit the island and help "bring back the smiles". Ratnapala is also a regular volunteer with the International Services section of the American Red Cross which raised millions of dollars for tsunami relief. This week he presented the Red Cross an update on rehabilitation work in Sri Lanka. Meanwhile, expatriate Sri Lankans in California are boosting tsunami relief and rebuilding efforts in the island with a variety of projects from fund raising to tourism promotion. Individual attempts at fund raising have featured mostly church, temple, school and other community based events while a handful of professionals have focused more on rebuilding the ravaged infrastructure. |
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