Sri Lanka tourism woos Japanese outbound tour operators and hoteliers

The Sri Lanka Mission in Tokyo in collaboration with SriLankan Airlines and the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau connected over 265 tour operators and hoteliers live between Japan and Sri Lanka through an informative webinar session that was conducted in Japanese as well as in English. Travel questions regarding PCR tests, vaccinations and on-arrival visa issuance were explained in detail.

Sri Lanka was promoted as an exquisite compact destination and areas such as beaches, ecotourism, wildlife and safari, adventure sports, sea trails, heritage and culture and Ayurveda were some of the subjects that were highlighted and videos presented with narration dubbed in Japanese.

Keynote Speaker Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Japan Sanjiv Gunasekara explained Sri Lanka’s consistent recognition as a sought-after tourist destination in the World by most leading travel magazines and publishers which included Conde Nast Traveler Magazine’s recent recommendation of Sri Lanka as a top five –COVID-19 destination in the world to travel. Keynote Speaker SriLankan Airlines Chairman Ashok Pathirage mentioned the experience of flying with Sri Lankan Airlines from the time on board and welcomed all Japanese tourists to experience Sri Lankan hospitality. 

Keynote Speaker Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau Chairperson Kimarli Fernando explained in detail Sri Lanka’s attraction and the ease of connectivity and the improved services that Sri Lanka offers to its tourists. All speeches were presented with Japanese subtitles and all the videos were dubbed in Japanese by the mission staff.

Mission hopes to continue follow-up and monitor the needs of the participants as well as to reach out to other Japanese outbound tour operators to market Sri Lanka.