Boost for tourism as Japanese Association of Travel Agents, Board Members visit

Sri Lanka’s efforts to woo more Japanese tourists got a fresh boost when the Board Members of the Japanese Association of Travel Agents (JATA) concluded a top visit to the country this week.

“JATA’s decision to visit Sri Lanka is major landmark in the Japanese market of Sri Lanka,” a spokesman for Sri Lanka Tourism said.

The JATA delegation which arrived on 15 January concluded the tour on Thursday. The visit was coordinated and facilitated by Sri Lanka Tourism, SriLankan Airlines and the Sri Lankan travel trade.

“We endeavoured to make the visit a memorable one and utilise the visit to promote more and more Japanese visitors to Sri Lanka,” the Sri Lanka Tourism spokesman added.

In the past Sri Lanka had made several efforts to convince the Board of Directors of JATA to pay an official visit to Sri Lanka, targeting the creation of a positive message for the travel trade in Japan.

Since the JATA Board of Directors are the most influential in creating new destinations, an official visit by JATA is an integral activity if a country plans to attract the Japanese market. When JATA visits a country, its membership tends to follow that particular country as a potential destination for Japanese visitors.

The spokesman said that, however, due to the crisis situation Sri Lanka had been experiencing until 2009, JATA had been considering other countries as their priority destinations, although they were invited to visit Sri Lanka several times. These efforts were made by the Sri Lankan Embassy in Tokyo and SriLankan Airlines, Tokyo, along with Sri Lanka Tourism.

The follow up on convincing JATA, carried out by SriLankan Airlines in Tokyo, saw JATA making a welcome decision to finally visit, thereby extending its cooperation towards Sri Lanka.

The spokesman said the visit enabled showcasing the visitor friendly environment that Sri Lanka has achieved to the JATA Board Members, thereby instilling confidence in the destination through sending a positive message to the Japanese travel trade.

Pix by Kumarasiri Prasad, our Airport Correspondent