Sunday Nov 17, 2024
Sunday Nov 17, 2024
Tuesday, 14 October 2014 01:21 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
This year, a JATA tourism stand was constructed in a 108 square meter area with 18 Sri Lankan travel industry companies engaged in promoting tour packages for the Japanese market. The Sri Lanka Tourism stand featured the country’s eight main tourism products and a mask wall which was a novel experience for visitors.
Each participating Sri Lankan travel company was provided with a separate counter within the Sri Lanka stand, creating a better opportunity for travel information to be exchanged and effective business meetings with travel professionals from Japan to be conducted.
There were three LED screens showing Sri Lanka Tourism videos in Japanese. Forty-seven prefectures from Japan and 150 countries exhibited at East Halls 1-7 at the venue.
The first day of the show was opened to the travel industry only for B2B meetings on appointment scheduling. The second day saw business meetings conducted at individual booths. The last two days were open to the public for an entry fee of Yen 1300. The event attracted more than 150,000 visitors during the three-day event. Many Japanese media personnel also had meetings with Tourism Bureau Marketing Director Madubhani Perera.
The Sri Lanka Tourism Stand was visited by Secretary to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism and the Executive Committee of Japan Association of Travel Agents, Otsuka Takashi.
Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau organised a dance troupe from the Ministry of Arts and Cultural Affairs of the Western Province to perform at the travel fair which attracted a large audience. Their performances of traditional cultural items were much appreciated by the crowds.
Furthermore, the Ceylon Tea counter, which was operational on all three days, attracted large crowds to taste Ceylon tea. During the three-day period, over 5,000 Japanese visitors consumed tea at the counter.
The Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau conducted a consumer survey at the booth where 200 Japanese visitors indicated their opinion about Sri Lanka as a tourist destination. All were offered a souvenir for participating in the survey.
Sri Lanka Tourism considers Japan as one of the main tourist-generating markets for Sri Lanka. During 2013 there were 31,505 Japanese tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka with an increase of 20.8% compared to 2012. During the past nine months of 2014 there have been 29,703 Japanese arrivals which is an increase of 27.3%. This year the JATA Tourism Expo was held at Tokyo Big Sight from 25 to 28 September by the Japan Travel and Tourism Association (JTTA) and Japan Association of Travel Agents (JATA) supported by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. It was an all encompassing event showcasing the many facets of travel and the creative and varied lifestyle information and trends that spring from it.
JATA Tourism Expo was an ideal forum for showcasing destinations, while inspiring consumers through the power of travel.
