Sri Lankan culinary delights applauded by Israeli holidaymakers

Located approximately 5,400 km away from Sri Lanka, Israel has shown an increasing attention to Sri Lanka over the recent years as a unique tropical destination in the Indian Ocean with great surfing locations similar to Miami beach (USA) and Jaws, Maui-Hawaii.

Given the importance of showcasing Sri Lanka’s exquisite cuisine in Israel, Sri Lanka Tourism organised an authentic Sri Lankan culinary festival and tourism promotion with the collaborative partnership of The Sheraton Hotel Tel Aviv – Israel, and The Kingsbury Colombo. The Sri Lankan food festival took place from 7 to 18 May. This was the very first event of its kind (culinary tourism) to be organised in Israel by Sri Lanka Tourism.

The Sri Lankan food festival was kicked off with a grand opening ceremony on 7 May with the country’s top media houses, food bloggers and elite diplomats who were invited for this ceremony to explore ‘what is truly Sri Lankan’. The event took place for 12 days and highly-skilled chefs from The Kingsbury Colombo contributed their valuable service for this food festival by creating truly Sri Lankan culinary dishes for the Israeli food lovers. During this food festival, The Kingsbury’s culinary team collaborated with the Sheraton Hotel, Tel Aviv to create various Sri Lankan cuisines from traditional to street food to offer greater culinary exposure on destination Sri Lanka.

With this culinary tourism promotion activity Sri Lanka Tourism in collaboration with Sri Lanka mission in Israel expected to offer new tourism products for Israeli travellers based on their consumer behaviours where it would create a greater impact on decision-making process when Israelis select their holiday destinations for upcoming holidays. Overall this food festival created greater awareness among the public about destination Sri Lanka and further encouraged Israel’s outbound travel agents to promote Sri Lanka within their potential clientele. 

According to Fly East CEO Yariv Fisher, “Currently, most young Israelis are excited to travel to destinations like Sri Lanka.” Fly East is one of the leading outbound travel operator companies in Israel which is responsible for over 50% of Israeli tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka.

Young and middle aged Israel families travelling to Sri Lanka have grown dramatically since Sri Lanka is considered a peaceful country with a large number of natural wonders to excite their children and create a memorable holiday experience full of fun and adventure. Currently, Turkish Airlines is providing flight services to Sri Lanka via Istanbul and Maldives, and is expected to have a direct flight service within both countries. 

During the event all the distinguished invitees were welcomed by Ambassador for Sri Lanka P. Selvaraj, who explained the central features of Sri Lankan cuisine, Sri Lanka’s ancient historical roots, rich cultural values, multi-religious influences and many other aspects which make Sri Lanka amazing, unique and a satisfying holiday destination. 

Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau Public Relations Division Junior Manager Chaminda Munasinghe also addressed the invitees by highlighting the importance of culinary tourism promotion to attract more Israeli travellers to Sri Lanka during the upcoming season and conveyed Sri Lanka Tourism’s gratitude to the management of Sheraton Hotel, Tel Aviv and Sri Lanka Mission in Tel Aviv, Israel for creating such a great opportunity for Sri Lanka. Sheraton Hotel, Tel Aviv Executive Manager Patrick Mudalige gave his fullest support together with his team by organising all the ground arrangements for the Sri Lankan delegation.

With a population of only eight million in the State of Israel, approximately 12 million international departures are made every year by locals. Most Israelis engage in international travel at least once per year and often more, mostly on leisure or business purposes. The urban population of Tel Aviv is approximately 411,800. It is also the financial hub of the country and is considered the third largest economy of the Middle Eastern region after Abu Dhabi and Kuwait. It has one of the highest living standards in the world and is considered the world’s 25th most important financial centre. With a high income, the majority of the population travel abroad on their holidays.