Get Sri Lankaned

The first three-day Sri Lanka mega promotion, with joint efforts from Public and Private sectors, been initiated under the advice of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, will take place from 21 to 28 February in Bangalore, India.

This is a joint effort of the key Government institutions and private sector organisations.

The Indian media was briefed about this event on 15 February and Sri Lanka was subsequently able to get an excellent coverage by the Indian Media.  

More than 75 media institution including electronic and print, participated in the press conference on Friday (15/02/2013) at Vivanta by Taj Hotel in Bangalore.

Among the participated media institutions, leading news papers the Hindu, the Times of India, Deccan Herald, New Indian Express, DNA, Deccan Chronicle, Economic Times, Samyukhta Karnataka, Eenadu have treated this event as top priority with the view to attract more Indians to the ‘Get Sri Lankaned’ joint promotion campaign.  

The Sri Lankan cricketing legends Arjuna Ranathunga, Sanath Jayasuriya, Mahela Jayawardena, Kumar Sangakkara, Tillakarathne Dilshan, Lasith Malinga and the Bollywood star Jacqueline Ferdinandz will also grace this event, which is named as ‘Get Sri Lankaned’.

This event will be organised under the guidance of the Minister of Economic Development Basil Rajapakse.

The press conference hosted by the Vivanta By Taj was address by Deputy Minister of Economic Development Muthu Sivalingam, Sri Lanka Tourism Chairman Bhashwara Gunarathna, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau Managing Director Rumay Jauffer, Bangalore Consul Dr. K. Sudakar, Sri Lanka Cricket Secretary Nishantha Ranathunga and Taj Group of Hotels Bangalore Sales Director Arjun Pandalai.

Sri Lanka, one of Asia’s finest tourist destinations is still unexplored by many. The ‘Get Sri lankaned’ campaign will be an opportunity to showcase Sri Lanka as a tourist and trade destination.

The three day campaign organised by the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau will see activities like media briefings, Sri Lankan evenings with fashion shows, Sri Lankan food festivals, B2B meetings between the travel trade of the two countries and business seminars and so on.

The said activities will be launched at the Taj Vivanta in Bangalore on 21 February 2013. The events will include nearly 70 Sri Lankan public and private sector institutions, representing tourism, trade and investment.

The ‘Get Sri Lankaned campaign’ will also be launched at Garuda Mall in Bangalore, which will provide consumers with the opportunity to taste Sri Lankan food, get a glimpse of Sri Lankan culture and traditional dancing, while DJ’s and entertainers will interact with the audience.

Live games will be organised at the Garuda shopping mall and the winners will be awarded with free holiday packages to Sri Lanka.

The ‘Get Sri Lankaned’ campaign will also be held in the other cities namely Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Cochin and Ahmedabad.  

Sri Lanka Tourism, under the guidance of the Minister of Economic Development, Hon.Basil Rajapaksa, launched a five year strategic development plan for the sector, from 2011-2016, based on the Mahinda Chintana -Vision for the Future - Development Policy Framework. This strategic development plan of Sri Lanka Tourism will achieve its core objectives of serving the needs of all stakeholders and ensuring the economic benefits of the industry expanded within a larger cross section of the society from fisherman, craftsman, farmer, street vendor, tour guide and tour operator, and the Hotel industry. With the visionary leadership of H.E. the President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the guidance of Hon. Minister Basil Rajapaksa, the tourism industry is poised for growth being in line with the national effort of making Sri Lanka, the emerging Wonder of Asia.

The Secretary to the Ministry of Economic Development Dr. P. B. Jayasundera has played a crucial role in the process of this Three Day Join Promotion Campaign. The Chairman of Sri Lanka Tourism Bhashwara Gunarathna’s and the Managing Director of SLTPB Rumy Jauffer’s active participation in organizing this activity has also contributed immensely to make this campaign successful.

Sri Lanka Tourism, under the Ministry of Economic Development, has organized this event in partnership with state associate partners such as Export Development Board, Sri Lankan Airlines, Sri Lanka Cricket, Sri Lanka Tea Board, National Gem and Jewelry Authority, Sri Lanka Convention Bureau, Sri Lanka Handy Craft Board (Laksala), and Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority, Taj Hotels and Palaces, Sri Dalada Maligawa,Kandy, Tourists Hotel Association Of Sri Lanka(THASL),Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators(SLAITO), Association of Small and Medium Enterprises in Tourism (ASMET) , Edna Group, Ceylon Biscuits Limited, Avirate, Dankotuwa porcelain, Spa Ceylon, Noritake, Prasanna Bathik, Dilmah Tea, Siddhalepa, Stone & String, Jet Airways, Divulapitiya Handlooms, join as the associated partners for this joint promotion campaign. Sri Lanka High Commissioner to India H.E Prasad Kariyawasam, the Deputy High commissioner in Chennai and  Dr.K.Sudakar Honorary Consul in Bangalore have also assisted in organizing this joint promotion campaign in India.  

SLTPB believes that the upcoming city based campaign series in India will help the country to capture a slice out of the vastly growing outbound travelers of India. According to the UNWTO, Indian outbound tourists will rise to 50 million by 2020, while in 2011 this number stood at 14.21 million. Sri Lanka welcomed 170,000 Indian tourists in 2012; the biggest number arrived from a single country. SLTPB is also expecting to attract 400,000 Indian tourists by the year 2016, thus helping to reach Sri Lanka’s goal of 2.5 million visitors by the year 2016.

Sri Lanka makes an ideal destination for Indian travelers due to factors such as close proximity between the two countries, Sri Lanka’s diverse tourist attractions such as, pristine beaches, Shopping, Adventure, Food, Nature, Casinos, Night Life and many more.

Nearly 100 flights(Sri Lankan airlines, Jet airways, Indian airlines) travel between India and Sri Lanka per week. Sri Lankan Airlines operates in eight Indian cities, giving easy connectivity between the two countries.