SL named Asia’s Leading Adventure Tourism Destination

Sri Lanka has been recognised as Asia’s Leading Adventure Tourism Destination for the third year running at the World Travel Awards. The news was broken by Sri Lanka Tourism Promotional Bureau Chairman Kishu Gomes, who revealed that a bureau official was en route to Vietnam to accept the award.

“Sri Lanka is becoming more popular for non-conventional products, such as surfing, diving, and marine life. And this is also what the world has been responding to in recent years,” stated Gomes, speaking at the launch of the So Sri Lanka Pro World Surf League Qualifiers in Colombo yesterday. 

Sri Lanka beat out the likes of China, India, Japan, Nepal and Thailand to win the 2019 award, and Gomes added that this year’s win is particularly satisfying considering the difficult period the country has had to endure recently. “We’re fast becoming known for Adventure Tourism. And to go with the awards we’ve received in the past, these are all positive things which are working for us in order to rebuild our battered tourism industry.

“By the end of the year we will be able to reach two million tourists. And beyond that it’s all about aggressively promoting the destination with an integrated marketing plan in order to hit the targets we want to hit.“

The World Travel Awards, which celebrates its 26th anniversary this year, was established in 1993 to acknowledge, reward and celebrate excellence across all key sectors of the travel, tourism and hospitality industries. Today, the World Travel Awards brand is recognised globally as the ultimate hallmark of industry excellence.