In an effort to attract tourists from far east, the Sri Lankan Tourism Promotion Bureau, the Sri Lankan Embassy and related companies hosted a travel road show in Seoul in South Korea earlier this month.
The road show of Sri Lanka Tourism ended with success on 7 June, 2016.
Sri Lanka Tourism and the representatives of Sri Lankan travel agencies visited Korea, and introduced tourist attractions and vision of Sri Lanka to the travel industry and media of Korea. Also B2B consulting was provided in the event.
The Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Korea, Manisha Gunasekara, in an interview with Korean media said currently not many Korean tourists visit Sri Lanka since direct flights from Korea to Sri Lanka have only recently been created. However, Sri Lanka has become one of popular countries to travelers in China and Japan.
“We are focusing on promotion of tourism in Korea through participating in Korea World Travel Fair and Busan International Travel Fair, and in the planning stage to promote cooperatively with Korean Air which flies to Sri Lanka.”
Regarding the reason for increased number of tourists to the island, the Ambassador mentioned that now large-sized hotels are being constructed in Sri Lanka, so the accommodation will be increased by 60% throughout the country. “Also new airline routes to Europe will be added. Based on ample tourism infrastructure we will attract more tourists,” she said.
In closing, the Ambassador said “Buddhism culture, Ceylon tea, and coconut oil are great things of Sri Lanka, as well; cinnamon, water sports, and whale watching are world’s top level. Sri Lanka has many important factors as a popular tourist destination such as beautiful nature, beach, long history and culture, wild animals and UNESCO World Heritage. And the best thing is Sri Lankan people’s kind attitude to welcome tourists.”
She emphasized that various aspects of Sri Lankan culture and tourism including cultural properties, food festival, traditional dance performance to celebrate the 40th Korea-Sri Lanka relations will be introduced.