Minister Navin strengthens position on incentives from France

Wednesday, 8 April 2015 00:07 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

SLCB Marketing Manager Kumudu Hennadige, Embassy Commercial Counsellor Alexi Gunasekera and SLTDA Board Member Chandra Wickramasinghe with French Tour Operators Association Secretary General Jürgen Bachmann

MEEDEX sessions in progress

MEEDEX sessions in progress For the first time the Sri Lanka Convention Bureau took part in the MEEDEX 2015 – MICE trade fair in France recently. “MICE trade fairs are getting fragmented either geographic or type based hence the need to look into such specialised fairs in our calendar,” said SLCB CEO Vipula Wanigasekera. The MEEDEX Fair has been created as a platform exclusively dedicated to French buyers off incentives. MICE industry members joined SLCB in the new venture and appreciated the decision due to the positive response from the new buyers who attended this event. Minister of Tourism and Sports Navin Disanayake emphasises the need to entice upscale clients into the country and this is a direct approach to bring in incentive travellers into Sri Lanka who are high spenders. The bureau’s objective is this event is to establish contacts with new buyers who have not sold Sri Lanka yet and to set the stage for Sri Lankan industry members to transact business, both of which were achieved through this exercise. SLCB was represented by its Marketing Manager Kumudu Hennadige and was assisted by Commercial Counsellor in the Embassy of Sri Lanka in France Alexi Gunasekera. The bureau also took the opportunity to discuss matters with the Secretary General of SNAV-French Tour Operators Association concerning the possibility of hosting the SANV 2016 congress in Sri Lanka.