Sri Lanka boosts awareness among Bangladesh tourists

Secretary to the Ministry of Tourism S. Hettiarachchi

Tour Operators Association of Bangladesh President MD. Rafeuzzaman handing over a token of appreciation to SLTPB Director Marketing Dushan Wickremasuriya

Delegations of Travel Writers Association and Tour Operators Association of Bangladesh at BIA with tourism officials

The Bangladesh tour operators with the Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga

The Bangladesh Travel Writers at Sigiriya

As an initiative to attract more tourists from the Bangladesh market, the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) with the assistance of Sri Lanka High Commission in Dhaka and SriLankan Airlines organised a Familiarisation (FAM) tour for two groups of the Bangladesh Travel Writers Association (BDTWA) and Tour Operators Association of Bangladesh (TOAB) for an eight-day tour of the island period of 25 February to 4 March.

The visit coincides with the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Diplomatic Relations between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh which falls on 4 March. 

Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga welcomed the group on 25 February with the officials of Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau. 

The group comprised 10 members of the Tour Operators Association of Bangladesh and six members being four travel writers and two photographers of the Travel Writers Association of Bangladesh. The groups visited Sri Lanka with SriLankan Airlines providing sponsorship of the air travel for all participants. 

During the eight-day stay in Sri Lanka, the tour operators, travel writers and photographers visited a number of iconic and historical sites of the country including Sigiriya, Matale, Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, Ella, Galle, Bentota and Colombo city. 

On 3 March, members of the Tour Operators Association and Travel Writers Association of Bangladesh had B2B meetings with 50 leading Tour Operators and Hoteliers and Editors/News reporters of Sri Lanka and discussed the way forward for further collaboration of two-way tourism promotion of both Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. 

Ministry of Tourism Secretary S. Hettiarachchi, SLTPB Director Marketing Dushan Wickramasuriya, and Presidents of the Tour Operators Association and Travel Writers Association of Bangladesh addressed the event. The FAM concluded with the B2B event. 

The Travel Writers Association and Tour Operators Association of Bangladesh are scheduled to organise a number of promotional activities with the support of SLTPB and the Sri Lanka High Commission in Dhaka to promote Sri Lanka as an attractive destination among Bangladeshi travellers.