Japanese businessmen impressed by Sri L anka Tourism presentation

Parallel to President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s tour to Japan, a business forum was held on the morning of 15 March at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo attended by the Japanese business community and investors.

Chairman of Sri Lanka Tourism Bhashwara Gunarathna did a presentation promoting Sri Lanka tourism at this forum. The presentation was highly appreciated by the audience and helped kindle interest in Sri Lanka tourism among Japanese businessmen and investors.

The reason for this huge success was due to the political, cultural, democratic and all the other bilateral relationships involving Sri Lanka and Japan. Video clips containing remarks of tourists who are currently on holiday in Sri Lanka were also included in the presentation. The Chairman also referred to the donations and grants offered to Sri Lankan Government by Japan. The television technology to Sri Lanka Rupavahini (SLRC), National Youth Services Council and Sri Jayewardenepura Hospital are great examples of Japan’s generosity to Sri Lanka. Furthermore, there was special mention of famous Japanese tele-dramas like Oshin, well-loved by Sri Lankan fans.

The Chairman stated that being able to convince and prove to the Japanese that Sri Lanka is an unmatched tourist destination was greatly advantageous in achieving Japanese tourist targets. He wrapped up his presentation by reminding them of an old Sinhala song about a Japanese doll (‘Hinehewi Bonikka’), which was broadcast in the 1950s, to show to the audience that relations between Japan and Sri Lanka go back as far as 60 years. The song received positive reviews from the audience and assisted in building the image of Sri Lanka in Japan.