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Monday Nov 18, 2024
Monday, 17 March 2014 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
At the ITB 2014 travel trade show 10,147 tourism companies from 189 countries represented in a display area covering 160,000 square meters. The Sri Lanka delegation to Berlin is led by the Director General of Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority Dr. D.S. Jayaweera and Sri Lankan Ambassador Germany Sarath Kongahage along with officials.
Sri Lanka Tourism stall
The Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB), under the leadership of Minister of Economic Development Basil Rajapaksa, has identified Germany as a key market among the traditional tourist markets of Sri Lanka and actions were taken to set up an attractive stall at the ITB, inclusive of all the tourism products related to the market of Germany.
Accordingly this year, the Sri Lanka Tourism stall was specifically designed in order to showcase major attractions favoured by German travellers. The tourism stall has given much focus on promoting Sri Lankan ayurvedic products, Sri Lankan wildlife, beaches and heritage to the German tourists. The Sri Lanka stand was ceremoniously opened on 5 March with the participation of key industry stakeholders of Sri Lanka.
At the entrance to the Sri Lankan stall is displayed a replica of the ancient kingdom of Yapahuwa to highlight the ancient historical marvels of the country. Two life-size elephants were placed in the Sri Lankan stall to provide a feeling of the wildlife attractions available in Sri Lanka. A widescreen video wall had been setup in with images and videos of beaches to give a live feeling of being in the beaches of Sri Lanka. Ayurveda and indigenous medicine had been a key attraction of the ITB Sri Lanka stall where separate area was dedicated for spa treatments and giving visitors the opportunity to experience various treatments at this section. A traditional mask maker from Aluthgama did mask carving demonstrations at the stall while conducting mask painting sessions for visitors.
Ceylon tea was served throughout the ITB 2014 for visitors, through the Tea Bar placed inside the Sri Lanka pavilion. Sri Lanka Tourism also specifically designed a branded kit for all co-participants from Sri Lanka including a brochure 
providing guidance for the participation of Sri Lanka at ITB 2014 along with dockets, notebooks and pens, bags, T-shirts and caps. With all these items in place the Sri Lankan stall was able to attract many numbers with its unique design and experiences offered.
Start off press conference
The Sri Lankan press conference was held on 5 March 2014 attended by international journalists representing major travel and tourism publications. Speaking at the press conference Director General of Sri Lanka Tourism Dr. D.S. Jayaweera stated to the media that “Sri Lanka is aiming at generating revenue in the excess of $ 4.2 billion from the tourism industry by 2016. In addition the country hopes to attract 2.6 million tourist arrivals by 2016. Sri Lanka is already experiencing attractive number of visitors to the country and the annual growth rate of arrivals last year being 26.5% comparative to previous year. From Germany 85,470 travellers were received in 2013 recording 20% overall growth with the revenue generated from this segment being $ 170 million. By 2016 the strategic development plan aims to attract 130,000 visitors from Germany in order to achieve the set target of 2.6 million tourists.” He also remarked that the tourism industry of Sri Lanka will move to the top there foreign exchange earners for the country very soon.
Launch of mega taxi advertising campaign in Germany
Subsequent to the press conference, Sri Lanka Tourism launched a taxi advertising campaign on 7 March 2014 at the Messe Berlin fairground. The taxi advertising campaign was launched by Sri Lankan Ambassador in Berlin Sarath Kongahage and Director General of Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority Dr. D.S. Jayaweera with the participation key decision makers representing travel agencies, tour operators and the hotel sector of Sri Lanka who showcased for ITB Berlin 2014.
Under this campaign 300 taxies were branded focusing on tourism attraction themes appealing to the German market such as ayurveda, wildlife, beaches, heritage and culture. The campaign will run for a period of six consecutive months covering major cities in Germany such as Berlin, Hamburg, Munich and Frankfurt etc. Ambassador Sarath Kongahage highlighted that this is the first time ever a taxi campaign of this magnitude was used for promotions in Germany.
The taxi campaign is aimed to attract high-end tourists to the country by reaching the key cities in Germany where the frequency of spotting these advertisements is quite high. Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau Chairman Bashwara Gunarathna said that the SLTPB is planning to launch a bus advertising campaign and an underground advertising campaign in Germany further to the newly launched Taxi advertising campaign. SLTPB has initiated the “Global Mega Promotional Campaign” this year under the guidance of the Ministry of Economic Development with the intention of increasing tourist arrivals from European region. The campaign will cover other European countries such as France and UK in the upcoming months of this year. Meanwhile, the SLTPB also took steps to arrange business meetings, exclusive media interviews, investment meetings during the ITB Berlin 2014.
Sri Lanka to bid for ITB 2016 host country
Sri Lanka also signed the bid papers to be the host country for the ITB Berlin in 2016, one of the biggest travel and aviation exhibitions in the world. Messe Berlin CEO Dr. Christian Göke, the organiser of the event visited the Sri Lankan stall at the ITB and discussed the bid at length. This year the host country of the ITB was Mexico which saw the entire ITB being decorated with promotional material from Mexico. The partner country/host country of the 2015 ITB is Mongolia and the 2013 Partner country was Indonesia. The Commonwealth Heads of State meeting (CHOGM) was held in Sri Lanka. “This would be the biggest international event ever, for Sri Lanka in the country’s history as the event would be covered by over 10,000 international media,” said Ambassador of Germany in Sri Lanka, Sarath Kongahage. This year’s ITB Berlin reported a 4% rise in trade visitors and an increase in business volume.
Around 5,700 accredited journalists from 81 countries and some 300 bloggers from 25 countries reported on events at ITB Berlin this year. Politicians and diplomats from Germany and abroad were present at the show. In addition to 125 foreign delegations, 97 ambassadors from around the world, 44 ministers from abroad foreign a numerous undersecretaries were also present. Vice Chancellor and Federal Economics and Energy Minister Sigmar Gabriel, Federal Minister of Justice and Consumer Protection Heiko Maas and Governing Mayor of Berlin Klaus Wowereit came to find out what the travel industry had to offer. SLTPB anticipates a turnout of around 130,000 tourists from Germany to visit Sri Lanka this year. In 2016, the Government’s ambition to achieve 2.5 million tourist arrivals, the total expectation of tourists from Germany will amount to be 200,000.
