ABC Group, Australia, decides to stretch wings to Sri Lanka

Thursday, 4 July 2013 00:53 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Encouraged by surpassing all the targets so far in the yearly tourism expectations as recorded in the five-year Strategic Plan of Sri Lanka Tourism, the industry confidently looks forward to reach the expected numbers in the coming years as well. In 2011, Sri Lanka reached its target of 800,000 on 19 December, ending the year with a historic 855, 975 arrival count. Last year, the industry surpassed the original target of 950,000 and went on to break the anticipated one million tourist mark on 30 December. The expected tourist arrivals by 2016, is 2.5 million.

In the wake of this boom in the tourist industry, Ajith Perera, Chairman of ABC Group, Australia, has decided to stretch their wings to Sri Lanka and launch ‘Go Travel’. ‘Go Travel’ doesn’t restrict its services only to travel related matters, but it goes beyond, to help people with various aspects of Australia. Equipped with a good support mechanism to engage in diversified businesses, this company assists people to engage in various business opportunities. The real estate sector is just one of the investment opportunities that can be explored. Matters related to visas, mortgages, investing, buying or establishing businesses, and all documentation is handled by an experienced team at ABC Group, making it a one stop shop for dealing with Australia. When travelling to Australia, all arrangements, from a simple airport shuttle service to a structured tour can be handed over to Go Travel. It also arranges customised holidays for Sri Lankans when they visit Australia. Most often friends and family you plan to stay with are busy working; hence this is a good option to ease their burden of having to make time and arrangements to entertain you. Tours can be structured according to your requirement and arranged in any state, wherever you plan to visit. “When we thought of expanding our business, we realised that we should come to Colombo and set up our operation here so that the two offices can work hand in hand. This will give us a chance to create employment opportunities in Sri Lanka and also generate more revenue for the Sri Lankan tourism industry. What we are trying to do is to bring Australians who are travelling to other destinations. Although Sri Lanka has so much to offer, for the past thirty years, most of the tourists have been going to destinations around Australia such as Bali, Thailand, Malaysia and The Pacific Islands. We hope to change that trend,” said Perera. Go Travel is in the Top 15 agents of Concord Network Agency Group, which has about 800 travel agents in Australia. Although his core business has been in the recruitment industry supplying labour to the industrial sector, he has diversified his company portfolio, adding real estate, finance and trading. The latest addition is travel and tourism, which has been in operation for five years.