Sri Lankan hotels, frustrated by the prolonged delay in a national tourism branding campaign, have jointly launched their own digital marketing initiative targeting travellers from the Middle East and East Asia.
The campaign, which began end October, is aimed at attracting visitors from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Oman, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.
According to Dmitri Cooray, managing director at Jetwing Hotels, the initiative targets high-spending travellers from shorthaul destinations and markets with year-round outbound travel, unlike Western markets where travel is largely seasonal.
The Truly Sri Lanka digital destination campaign is led by The Hotels Association of Sri Lanka (THASL). Launching the campaign, THASL President M Shanthikumar said the private sector initiative “goes a long way in promoting Sri Lanka’s diverse tourism prospects to the markets that come under this programme”.
Krishan Balendra, chairman of Cinnamon Hotels and Resorts, shared: “This small value campaign is something better than nothing as the authorities are taking a long time to launch a campaign to attract tourists to a country that has won a lot of accolades in recent times from the global leisure industry.”
The three- to six-month campaign, initially supported by 60 of THASL’s 300 member hotels, is expected to attract more participants as it gains momentum. The current investment in the campaign totals 25 million rupees (US$82,000).
