Cinnamon Travel Bloggers’ Conference in the limelight at WTM, London

Tuesday, 11 November 2014 00:43 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Participating in the annual World Travel Mart (WTM) which was held in London, Sri Lanka drew in significant attention with the buzz created around Asia’s first-ever Travel Bloggers Conference – TBCasia 2014 organised by Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts.

For the first time in the history of the WTM, 60 bloggers were given the opportunity to network with exhibitors to explore ways to work together in the future due to the growing importance of blogging for businesses. The highlight was that many of the bloggers at this session had already been carefully handpicked by Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts to be a part of the bloggers conference in Sri Lanka. “The number of bloggers attending World Travel Market has increased dramatically over the past few years as the power and influence of bloggers continues to grow stronger. The ability of travel bloggers to impact travel decisions has increased tremendously in the recent past. Opinions expressed in blogs have created more impact than traditional media. Bloggers can also effectively reach out to a captive audience, communicate specific messages and in turn influence travel decisions. Why not harness this influence and use it to educate travelers about your brand offerings?” said Dileep Mudadeniya, Head of Brand Marketing for Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts.

TBCasia2014 will be held at Cinnamon Lakeside Colombo on 18 November. There will also be a pre-conference tour hosted by Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts from 14 to 17 November which will take the international professional travel bloggers to popular tourist destinations in the Island. The Professional Travel Bloggers Association (PTBA), which Cinnamon has partnered with, has stated that this is the first time such a unique conference format has been hosted for the travel bloggers. The conference on 18 November will be catered especially to those from the Sri Lankan hospitality and travel industry who are interested in increasing their exposure through blogging and other digital mediums. TBCasia 2014 is poised to be a vibrant B2B event presenting a diverse range of digital marketing solutions and ideas while it will also be a unique opportunity for the travel trade to network one-on-one with the international travel bloggers and gain valuable contacts. Embarking upon this exciting, first time concept which will revolutionise the Sri Lankan hospitality industry. Mudadeniya stated that “blogging could eventually become the future of leisure marketing” in his closing remarks.