Boost for tourism as Sri Lanka entices top travel bloggers

  From left John Keells Group Leisure Sector President Krishan Balendra, Professional Travel Bloggers Association (PTBA) President Matt Gibson, SriLankan airlines General  Manager Corporate Communication Saminda Perera and Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority Chairman Paddy Withana 

– Pix by Daminda Harsha Perera

By Shehana Dain

​Sri Lanka will be hosting the first ever legitimate global travel blogger awards on 7 June as it gears to welcome 60 of the world’s best online influencers at the second instalment of the Cinnamon Travel Bloggers Conference and Awards Ceremony 2016 (TBCasia) in Colombo.

In a multi stakeholder initiative the initial filtering process had received over 700 applications from 40 different countries in many diverse languages. Subsequent to a thorough screening 30 finalists were shortlisted and the additional 30 bloggers were chosen giving prominence to their respective audience who closely revolve around key tourist target markets for Sri Lanka.

Noting that the ripple effect of such events will give a big boost for Sri Lankan tourism promotions in the area of digital marketing Professional Travel Bloggers Association President (PTBA) Matt Gibson while addressing the media on Monday said that TBCasia is by far the biggest gathering of travel bloggers at an official event.

“TBCasia creates a venue where the industry can meet with bloggers where they can talk about how they can collaborate in a very productive fashion; this seldom happens in Asia. TBCasia in its first year was the largest group of travel blogger trip in history that I’m aware of, this year it will be even bigger.”

Gibson pointed out that it creates a platform and provides information about how travel blogger trips can improve in Asia which the region is lacking.

“In Europe and North America travel blogger trips are very normal; they are very standard as destination marketing organisations do it often. In Asia this hasn’t been happening much and they are behind compared to other regions. This event is where we try to push the region to show them all the possibilities and it will put Sri Lanka in front of the international travel community map,” he added.

Addressing the media Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority Chairman Paddy Withana reiterated this point saying that travel bloggers will play a major part in positioning Sri Lanka in the global travel map as most people look at online reviews before choosing a travel related product or service.

“Research has shown that over 25 million people searched Sri Lanka for travel related information last year but the conversion is lower than industry travel behaviour norms. We must address this issue with strategic and value for marketing which is the new age challenge for tourism Sri Lanka.”

Moreover Daily FT reported earlier in March that Sri Lanka tourism is slated to launch its first ever digital marketing campaign infusing Rs. 200 million for the cause.

The awards will be primarily focusing on 10 key areas; namely best travel blog of the year, best upcoming travel blogger, best writing in a blog, best travel photography blog, best travel video blog, best food blog, best luxury travel blog, best airline blog, best optimisation of social media and best responsible tourism blog.

The digital influencers were judged by an independent panel which constituted tourism industry veterans as well us ground breakers in the marketing sphere. The five member panel constituted of Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) CEO Mario Hardy, Digital Innovation Asia (DIA) Founder Jens Thraenhart who is also the Co-Founder Dragon Trail & China Travel Trend, TravelClick International President Jan Tissera, Tripbod.com Founder Sally Davey, Managing Director of Travel PR Debbie Hindle and Cinnamon Hotels and Resorts Head of Brand Marketing Dileep Mudadeniya.

Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts President Krishan Balendra commented: “Travel blogging is one of the most essential and undervalued components in marketing Sri Lanka’s tourism sector. It is in fact a necessary tool for the industry because the craft of travel writing and blogging encourages others to travel, more so than an advertisement or other forms of traditional media. It is also a far more personal way to reach audiences. Cinnamon TBCasia 2016 is the ideal platform for all travel and hospitality professionals to engage with top bloggers from around the world to be better involved in this digital revolution.”

SriLankan Airlines will be flying the participants in while on-ground arrangements of the pre-conference tour between 2 to 7 June will be managed by Cinnamon Hotels and Resorts in association with PTBA.

The tour is organised with four unique itineraries for the bloggers to explore all popular tourist locations in the island. Apart from hosting the trendsetters in digitisation, Cinnamon TBCasia will also welcome many industry experts and social media gurus to speak at the conference. The panel of speakers include CNN Digital Producer Chuck Thompson, Nat Geo Representative Dr. Mathew Macdougall, Digital Strategist EVO Terra, Hubspot APAC Marketing Director Ryan Bonicci, PTBA Past President Laurence Norah, PATA Director of International Partnership Halona Padiachy, Dragon Trail Founder Jens Thraenhart, Radio Journalist Henry Barchet and Dave and Deb from The Planet D, a top travel blog with the tremendous global reach.

The event partners of the bi-annual event Cinnamon TBCasia are Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), TravelClick, Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), Sri Lanka Convention Bureau, Four BGB, CVisit, Reap Digital and Mobitel.