Aitken Spence Travels brings 24 charters from the UK

Friday, 30 November 2018 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Aitken Spence Travels is attracting the only charter flight operation from the UK to Sri Lanka this season, with 24 flights scheduled from early November 2018 to 30 April 2019.

The charter operated by TUI UK will see a Thomson Airways 300-seat Dreamliner bringing in tourists from the UK over the course of six months.

Holidaymakers will be accommodated in beach resorts from Waikkala to Hikkaduwa and the round tour clients will be accommodated in several hotels in the Cultural Triangle, Kandy and Nuwara Eliya.

The charter operation is expected to generate more than 50,000 room nights to hotels in Sri Lanka during the season, giving a significant boost to the industry’s demand from the UK. As the official ground handler, Aitken Spence Travels will be organising logistics, transport, accommodation and tours of all the travellers.

The first flight which landed on Wednesday, 7 November was welcomed by Aitken Spence Travels at the Bandaranaike International Airport with traditional dancers and a lotus flower welcome.

This is the third consecutive year that Aitken Spence Travels has attracted the large charter operation from the UK. Prior to last year, the last charter from the UK market was in 2010. Since then it has taken much effort and dedication to convince the charter operators to resume their flights back to Sri Lanka considering the aggressive competition posed by competing destinations.

Tourist arrivals from the UK have shown steady growth over the last few years, growing by 41% in 2018 the country recorded a total of 205,377 visitors from the UK against 166,489 visitors in 2017 by end-October.

“Aitken Spence Travels is the only destination management company in Sri Lanka to handle a charter from the UK. This is due to our longstanding partnership with TUI, a global giant in the tourism industry. A great amount of effort was made over the year to secure the charter for the third consecutive year despite tremendous competition from other destinations. Our commitment, consistency in service and agility displayed during the charter operation last year helped us secure the charter for Sri Lanka this year. Sri Lanka as a tourist destination needs to be promoted more aggressively among the UK public in order to capitalise on the efforts made by industry players,” said Aitken Spence Travels Vice President Prasanjit Perera.