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Monday, 24 August 2015 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Journalist from Reise Travel Gerald Reise, Journalist at Le Gourmand Magazine Gotz Primke, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotions Bureau Chairman Dr. Rohantha Athukorala and Journalist at Bonnes Vacances Magazine Siguru and Assistant Director of the Visiting Journalists Program Nisantha Alahakoon at the SLTPB
The latest UNWTO report has revealed that Germany has elevated itself to be most attractive source market globally, with its outbound travellers spending $ 92 billion dollars last year with a per capita expenditure of $1,137 dollars, which is higher than the figures for the UK, France, Italy, the US or Australia, said Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau Chairman Dr. Rohantha Athukorala, when he met several top journalists from Germany yesterday at the Sri Lanka Tourism Board.
The senior visiting journalists included Gerald Reise, a Journalist from Reise Travel, Gotz Primke, a Journalist from Le Gourmand Magazine and Siguru, a Journalist from Bonnes Vacances Magazine who will touch and feel the “Eight wonderful experiences in Sri Lanka in 8 wonderful days” and then blog, write and share their experiences about the Sri Lankan promise in high-end magazines, forums and social media in Germany, said the Assistant Director of PR at the SLTPB Nisantha Alakoon.
“We very carefully planned the itinerary after consulting the trade and the Board of Directors so that we practice ROI-based marketing,” he said.
“Western Europe is currently registering a growth of 15.4% visitor arrivals into Sri Lanka as at end July 2015, crossing 321,472 visitor arrivals. With the new Government voted in January this year being more western-biased, Sri Lanka Tourism must ride the wave by focusing on the highest per capita expenditure source markets like Germany to ensure the industry is financially attractive,” commented Chairman Athukorala.
Athukorala went on to explain how Sri Lanka Tourism launched the aggressive marketing plan for Germany at ITB 2015 in March this year with a strong Sri Lankan private sector contingent of 53 destination marketing companies (DMC’s) under the leadership of the Minister of Tourism and Sports that garnered an exposure of 147 articles in the German media that was combined with focused ground activations in the last three months in the German market which has attracted 65,556 travellers into Sri Lanka at a growth of 13.5%.
“We are now getting more aggressive with a roadshow hitting the markets of Stuttgart, Berlin, Dusseldorf, Munich from 20-25 September and followed up with four months of strong advertising on the Deutsche Bahn that cuts across the key markets in Germany which will be followed up with the online global Youtube advertising competition and media blitz that will be done with the appointment of the international advertising agency,” he said.
Sri Lanka Tourism, registering a 16.8% cumulative performance growth and 31.4% July performance, has crossed the one-million-visitor mark, earning $ 1.3 billion in revenue receipts as per the latest Central Bank data, said SLTPB in a media release.
“We want the German market to reach 150,000 visitors this year but more important is the $250 spend power traveller,” said Athukorala.
