‘Cinnamon Sri Lanka Photo Contest’ launched at World Travel Mart, London

Cinnamon team - Sunimal Senanayake, Rohan Karr, Krishan Balendran with Paddy Withane at the Cinnamon stall- WTM, London 

Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts recently announced yet another exciting addition to their growing calendar of events. Launched at the World Travel Market (WTM) in London, the ‘Cinnamon Sri Lanka Photo Contest’ will celebrate the best travel photography captured in Sri Lanka in recent years. The competition will in turn help increase the dialogue on Sri Lanka as one of the world’s top travel destinations and help capture new perspectives on the island and its unparalleled visual appeal. 

The competition was launched at an event hosted by Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts at WTM, attended by Hon. John Amaratunga, Minister of Tourism Development and Christian Affairs – Sri Lanka, Chairman of the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Board, Chairman of SriLankan Airlines, leading travel bloggers and other industry leaders on 8 November 2016. The Cinnamon Sri Lanka Photo Contest is another ground breaking initiative to promote the destination similar to the many initiatives such as the 45th Miss Intercontinental 2016, Cinnamon TBCasia (Travel Bloggers Conference), Future of Tourism Summit and a series of other events conceptualized and initiated by Cinnamon in recent years. 

Cinnamon Hotels& Resorts has also continuously strived to acknowledge the supporting sectors that shape the travel industry. The first ever Cinnamon Travel Blogger Awards held earlier this year celebrated the world’s top bloggers in many specialized areas of the craft from well-written travel stories to well strategised digital media. This latest addition, in the form of a photography competition will go on to acknowledge the power of visual storytelling and powerful travel imaging when it comes to a traveller picking Sri Lanka as their destination of choice. 

The competition will be judged by an esteemed panel that includes National Geographic photographer Ami Vitale, award winning wildlife photographer and Head of Cinnamon Nature Trails Chitral Jayatilake, winner of the ‘Wanderlust’ photographer of the year Paul Goldstein and wildlife enthusiast and author Gehan De S. Wijeyaratne among others. A series of attractive prizes will be awarded to winners in a number of categories including marine and wildlife photography, landscapes and cityscapes, interiors, people and culture and video-based travel shorts. A grand winner will also be selected and named Cinnamon Travel Photographer of the Year with a prize package that includes an all-expenses paid, 3-week holiday in Sri Lanka. Photographers with any level of experience, working in SLR, DSLR, HD Video and Mobile Phone photography are welcome to enter and stand a chance to win.  Entries for the Cinnamon Sri Lanka Photo Contest will be open on 1 January 2017 and submissions can be uploaded directly on to the competition website at www.cinnamonhotels.com/photocontest until 31 March 2017. A grand final will be held in Colombo in April 2017, exhibiting the work of winners and finalists in each category. 

The Cinnamon Sri Lanka Photo Contest is conceptualised by Cinnamon Hotels and Resorts in partnership with e-Marketing Eye, the Sri Lanka Tourist Promotion Board, Mobitel and SriLankan Airlines.