Sri Lanka Tourism will be launching a global communication campaign this month for Visit Sri Lanka 2011. This follows H.E. President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s declaration of 2011 as Visit Sri Lanka Year and the target set to bring in 2.5 million tourists by the year 2016.The new communication strategy largely encompasses TV as a primary medium to communicate with potential tourists and lure them to Sri Lanka in the year 2011. The channels that will air the campaign include – BBC, Al Jazeera, CNN and Discovery Travel & Living, where the new campaign will be launched on the 20th of November and span for a period of 20 weeks. The campaign will kick-start with a 60 second TV commercial for 5 weeks after which time the 30 second will air for the remaining period of the campaign.“We are proud to move forward rapidly after the conflict and this campaign couldn’t have launched at a better time with inbound tourist arrivals showing a marked month on month growth when compared to the corresponding period in 2008. Sri Lanka will once again be on the international map” commented Chairman of the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, Mr. Bernard Goonetilleke. The overall inbound tourism figures have seen a marked improvement during the second half of this year with increasing trends recorded month on month. The arrivals for September alone jumped a resounding 28.6 percent when compared to the same period in 2008.Al Jazeera had been acclaimed the Most Popular International News Channel on YouTube and was voted Best 24 Hour News Programme at the 48th Monte Carlo Television Festival. In October 2004, The Washington Post surveyed 120 international TV channels received in the Middle East and found that Al Jazeera Channel was the most popular with 51.7% of viewers deeming it the news source of choice. The Sri Lanka Tourism campaign will reach over 137 million homes worldwide and will broadcast on the English and Arabic feed. This makes it an ideal platform for Sri Lanka Tourism to gain a firm stronghold in the Middle East market.The campaign will reach 362,032,723 television sets through the Discovery network. This includes a reach of 10,574,018 in the UK alone. On a weekly basis the campaign will be viewed by 7.2 million upscale consumers. Meanwhile the campaign will also reach more than 18.6 million homes in Asia through the time & tested media stalwart BBC. While CNN is synonymous with America, it has a very strong reach in Europe, a traditional strong market for Sri Lanka Tourism, as well. The campaign will reach 80 percent of households in France, 97 and 56 percent in Germany and the UK respectively. In addition, for the first time a 360 degree social networking campaign will be launched on CNN through Twitter, Facebook, Youtube and Flicker and a contest whereby the winners get their dream itinerary will be launched on a CNN microsite. Speaking on this special collaboration, Junji Sumitani, Sales Director, S.E. Asia, CNN International said, “CNN is proud to collaborate with Sri Lanka tourism on their unique travel campaign to showcase the best the country has to offer. CNN's multi-platform campaign brings together on-air and interactive online elements through a dedicated site and social networks to engage users to experience Sri Lanka like never before. This campaign leverages CNN's extensive reach amongst travellers around the world”Sri Lanka Tourism recognizes the role of social marketing in today’s business climate, which will be an important tool in this marketing campaign. High profile Sri Lankans, including entrepreneurs, fashion icons and leading business people are coming onboard to blog for Sri Lanka on Twitter. Sri Lanka Tourism also encourages the general public to blog on Sri Lanka. Interested bloggers are invited to write in to Sri Lanka Tourism if they are keen to be a part of this venture.“We would like to move with the times and not remain stuck in traditional methods of promoting Sri Lanka as a destination. It is an experiment for us in two-fold, we are using marketing tools that are new to us and marketing Sri Lanka for the first time in 30 years as a peaceful destination. It marks an exciting period in Sri Lanka’s history and we are delighted to be a part of it,” added Minister of Tourism Promotions, Hon. Faiszer Musthapha. All this wide reaching media exposure will only further enhance the country specific campaigns to be launched early next year in India, the Middle East, The United Kingdom, France and Germany, which will run for a period of two to three months to enhance the arrivals and subsequently extend to Japan with the assistance of JBIC (Japanese Bank for International Cooperation) and also China. An onboard video showcasing Sri Lanka will be played on all flights arriving in the Island while negotiations are also being made with National-Geographic Magazine, Time and Newsweek to carry the print campaign early next year.
“The timing is perfect with the end of the war signalling the relaxation of travel advisories. However internationally the general travelling public are unaware of Sri Lanka as a travel destination; therefore this campaign will act as a public awareness vehicle, which will be a catalyst to increase inbound tourism” added Mr. Chandra Wickremasinghe, President of Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators (SLAITO).The new global campaign comes ahead of a series of projects that are lined up for Visit Sri Lanka 2011. Sri Lanka Tourism is putting a foundation in place in order to achieve the target set by H.E. the President to bring in 2.5 million visitors to Sri Lanka by 2016. An arrival figure 765,000 is projected by 2011 and to cater to this, Sri Lanka Tourism is using unique marketing and communication tools to lure in tourists to the country through Product Development, Promotions and Communication.
The objectives of the Visit 2011 are
1) Harnessing the financial and economic potential of the tourism sector.
2) Make tourism the 4th largest foreign exchange earner.
3) Create income generating opportunities at all levels, especially at the local and rural economy level to increase income from tourism.
4) Enhance global awareness for Sri Lanka on the internet from 3% to 5%
5) Increase average expenditure of tourist per day from $80 to $90
“Overall any promotional campaign will help the small & medium enterprise sector by the work that filters through to the service providers through the influx of tourists” commented Mr. Siri De Silva, President of the Small Medium Enterprise (ASMET). The projects for Visit Sri Lanka 2011 include a big PR idea, which will be launched in 2010 to encourage and entice tourists to visit Sri Lanka in the year 2011. In addition a wide range of spectacular events are planned, along with the Sri Lanka Tourism’s burgeoning list of successful annual events. It is the first time that Sri Lanka Tourism is launching a comprehensive and well researched destination promotion campaign through some of the leading media channels of the world. Given the current situation, whereby post-conflict, tourism is rapidly picking up, it is indeed a timely and important programme, which is firmly endorsed by the Hotel Association”, concluded Mr. Srilal Miththapala, President, Tourist Hotels Association of Sri Lanka (THASL). -Ends-
For more information please contact:
Lakshani Fernando/ Asheyra MendisSri Lanka Tourism Promotion BureauT: +94 11 2437059/60
F: +94 2440001
