Holidaymakers spillover, promos to kick off in 2025
Sri Lanka’s tourism industry on a record breaking upward swing as holidaymakers keep coming needs a slight push further to reach the three million target as authorities are fine-tuning the much awaited digital marketing campaign.
The industry is expecting the authorities to kick off the digital campaign within the first quarter of this year, Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators (SLAITO) President Nalin Jayasundere said adding that if not they will not be able to achieve the targeted 3 million arrivals.
The three million arrivals will not happen if the campaign does not kick off in the first quarter and “the three million arrivals is a dream that can turn into a nightmare,” he said.
With January being considered a record breaking month, it was pointed out that these numbers would not have happened hadn’t the industry carried out their own promotions in the overseas markets.
Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) Chairman Buddika Hewawasam told The Sunday Times Business in response to a query sent on whatsapp regarding the promotional campaign, “I don’t see a delay but we don’t want to do it premature. We’ll launch it at the right time.”
He noted that this is a “strategic decision to be made targeting our off season and not a decision driven by some external commercial interest.”
In the meantime, last week a new appointment has been made to the post of Managing Director at Sri Lanka Tourism who is a Sri Lanka Administrative Service officer who was previously at the Uva Tourism Provincial Authority. A similar posting was made to the position of Director General about one month back.
Some industry persons and state officials have lamented that these appointments need to have been made by taking into account the marketing prowess of the officials and have the right thinking to handle this kind of work.
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