Wednesday, 18 March 2015 23:34
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Post the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the different agreement signed with President Maithripala Sirisena, the energetic Sri Lanka Tourism Promotions Bureau launched the Ramayanaya Trail targeting the India market together with 26 companies from the private sector.
“Whilst managing existing products we also want to launch new products so that we keep Sri Lanka Tourism contemporary,” said Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau Chairman Rohantha Athukorala.
“The Ramayanaya Trail goes back to the Sanskrit epic which is closely linked to Hinduism. The Ramayanaya consist of seven chapters (kanda) where it narrates a story of Rama’s wife Seetha being captured by Ravana, the king of Lanka. People in Sri Lanka through generations believed that King Ravana ruled Sri Lanka as a very dominant and powerful king. The legend says that King Ravana was a pioneer in arts, crafts, architecture and medicine,” said Athukorala.
After many meetings with the private sector, the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotions Bureau will jointly launch the Ramayanaya Trail with 26 top operators in the Indian market where 19 key sites across the country from Rambodda, Nuwara Eliya, Ella, Galle, Chilaw and Mannar will be showcased to be part of the Ramayanaya trail. “This will see the real impact of the peace dividend among the Northern and Eastern Province which we will bridge the gap between different income groups. It will also link the local community,” commented SLAITO President MahenKariyawasam.
Since the Ramayanaya Trail connects the two cultures of Sri Lanka and India and makes the new product unique and historical, the overall market size for this new product in India is worth a hundred million plus core customers. Arrivals from India are estimated to touch 20,000 in the first year and then exponentially grow when traction is achieved. “It’s very important to ensure that the special dietary details are looked into with this type of traveller,” cautioned an industry veteran, who was actively involved in the development of the new product.
“In the latter part of April together with the private sector, we will conduct four road shows in selected markets together with the Sri Lankan Consul General so that we create awareness of the new product and then induce the customers to do their booking in. The private sector is upbeat of this idea given that the Indian market was getting very competitive and crowded,” said Athukorala.
“The idea of having a basket of packages like three day/four nights/five nights/seven nights hybrid tours will help get upper middle class Indian travellers to come over to Sri Lanka not only for religious reasons but also for engagement driven tourism. The key thing is ROI-based promotions,” voiced Athukorala.
