‘Sri Lanka – The Land of Serendipity’: Sri Lanka Tourism makes inroads into Scandinavia

Sri Lanka Tourism continued to widen its promotional activities of highlighting Sri Lanka as a popular travel destination among the Scandinavian countries, by recently conducting a tourism promotional event and a cultural evening named as ‘Sri Lanka – The Land of Serendipity’ in collaboration with the Sri Lanka Embassy in Stockholm, Sweden. The event was held at Kungstragarden, Stockholm, on 16 September. 

Kungstragarden is the most popular and the most visited open arena for advertising and conducting cultural activities in the city of Stockholm. The event was co- sponsored by the Turkish Airlines and Emirates. The occasion was declared open by Sri Lankan Ambassador in Sweden Damayanthi Rajapakse, amidst a distinguished audience including the travel and trade industry stakeholders. 

The guests also included Chandra Ediriweera, representing the travel companies of Sri Lanka, Priyantha Rathnayake, on behalf of the hotel industry of Sri Lanka, Jagath Perera, Marketing Officer, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, Channa Wijewardene, Director of the Channa Upuli Performing Arts Foundation, Riza Ahamed, representing the gem companies of Sri Lanka and an agent representing the Dilma tea company branch in Sweden. 

The Channa Upuli dance troupe added a touch of glamour to the event where their artistic dance moves and vivid items were highly appreciated by the distinguished audience comprising of Ambassadors, Diplomats, tourists visiting Sweden, Swedish nationals as well as the Sri Lankan community in Sweden. The large gathering which was present through the whole event, enjoying every minute of it signified the admiration and appreciation they had for the Sri Lankan Culture. 

Apart from the Sinhala and Tamil dances choreographed and performed by the Channa Upuli Performing Arts Foundation, the dance items which were staged especially by the Sri Lankan Tamil community, showcased the ethnic diversity of Sri Lanka as a unique and a compact island living in harmony. These performances also attracted the Sri Lankan diaspora communities living in Sweden.

The promotional campaign included an array of exotic gems of Sri Lanka, the carving of traditional masks done by master craftsmen, travel opportunities on leisure travel and Ayurveda presented by Sri Lanka’s experienced travel agents. The event was spiced up with a range of food stalls serving an array of Sri Lankan culinary delights and delectable food items, which drew the attraction of many visitors.

In parallel to the main event, Sri Lanka Tourism also conducted a series of tourism promotional events aboard the Tallink Silja Shipping Line on its voyages to Tallinin-Estonia and Riga-Latvia and on return voyages to Stockholm from 8-14 September, in showcasing Sri Lanka’s potential to become a major tourism market in Sweden.

The Tallink Silja Shipping Line is considered as one of the most popular and convenient mode of conveyance within Scandinavia and the Baltic region. This promotion was coordinated by Arnis Anchupans, Honorary Consul for Sri Lanka in Latvia and Vallo Paal, Honorary Consul for Sri Lanka in Estonia in collaboration with the Tallink Silja AB. A B2B session was also conducted on board with 70 sellers from all over the world meeting 600 buyers from Sweden and Finland, all of them involved in the travel trade. With this promotional activity, Sri Lanka Tourism was able to make its connections with cruise tourism in the Baltic and the Scandinavian region. 

Named as ‘Two cities’ ‘One workship’ the Stockholm travel show helped to build working relationships for the fifth time, as the Stockholm & Helsinki B2B Travel show 2017 took place in the harbours in Stockholm on 12 September and Helsinki on 13 September. 

This brings another difference to the promotional campaigns yet done so far by Sri Lanka Tourism, since the cruise campaign in Sweden was the first promotional event which was conducted aboard on a cruise in Europe. This occasion also marked the first Sri Lanka made to a consumer fair in European continent. The cruise campaign done by Sri Lanka Tourism is one important step taken since it will enable high profile clients to be interested in exploring the culture, cuisine and heritage of Sri Lanka and plan their next vacation.

The innovative promotional campaign in Sweden yet brought another positive outcome, and that was the presence of the Sri Lankan Diaspora community coming together to celebrate Sri Lanka after a lapse of many years, which indicated art and culture is a strong medium which brings everyone together. The main aim of the event was to popularise Sri Lanka in the Scandinavian region as a tourist destination, and strengthening diplomatic ties between Sri Lanka and Sweden.