Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau kicked off its promotional activities in the Far East with the annual roadshow in South Korea offering up-to-date travel information for travel agencies and travellers who converged at South Korea’s biggest travel exhibition, the Seoul International Tourism Industry Fair last week. Some 1300 travel agencies from 5o countries converged at this venue, which also served as a one-stop-shop for travellers from the orient looking for the best in travel destination packages. Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau roadshows were held at the Lotte Hotel in Busan and at the Westin Chosun in Seoul.

The roadshows coincide with the travel exhibition where several Sri Lankan tour and resort companies participated at the event, which included exclusive opportunities for Sri Lanka to hold business-to-business meetings. The exhibition is hosted annually by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, KOFTA Co.Ltd and organized by KOTFA.

Sri Lanka Pavilion in SITIF

Opening Ceremony

The Sri Lanka Pavilion at SITIF was officially inaugurated by Charge d Affairs of Sri Lanka in the Republic of Korea Mr Jagah Abeywarna; Chairman, SITIF Shin Joong Mok; representatives of the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau and the Sri Lankan travel trade on Thursday 06th June 2019.

Opening of Sri Lanka Pavilion at SITIF 2019 From right- Trade participants, Ms. Dilukshi Wickramasinghe Marketing Officer, Korean market, Chairman, SITIF Shin Joong Mok, Sri Lanka Embassy in South Korea and VIP, s from SITIF.

In order to draw visitor’s attention in to Sri Lanka Booth during SITIF , SLTPB used beautiful images of tourism products under the Sri Lanka Tourism Logo So Sri Lanka to decorate the booth. Sri Lanka booth was attracted to many visitors passing by and inquired by Sri Lanka tourism products.

In addition, Sri Lankan Brochures in Korean Language containing information of each tourism product were distributed.

SLTPB counter was placed at the front of the booth with the LED screen placed enabling the public to view the tourism promotional videos.

Ceylon tea boutique was placed next to the SLTPB counter to introduce the best Ceylon tea. Many people stood in a long line and were able to enjoy authentic Ceylon tea which had a great demand. Performance of the Sri Lanka Cultural Dancing Troupe was eye catching attraction among visitors.

They performed at the Sri Lanka booth, SITIF main stage and the welcome lunch organized by SITIF.

Performance at Sri Lanka Booth

Roulette Game

There was a Roulette game at least twice a day at Sri Lanka Booth and it got high attention among visitors. Key tags, Ceylon Tea were given as gifts for visitors. There was a long queue of visitors to play the game which consist the tourist attractions of Sri Lanka.

B2B Outbound Travel Mart

B2B Outbound Travel Mart was organized on 07 th and 08 th June 2019 to make the best use of SITIF 2019 exchanging latest information and building many cooperative networks within the tourism industry. Sri Lanka Travel and Tourism Industry participants attended the above B2B session to strengthen their business relations and make new contacts with trade.

Award Ceremony

Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau won the Award for best performance at SITIF 2019

SITIF high official presenting the award for Awad for the best performance to Ms Dilukshi Wickramasinghe-Marketing officer Korean Market - Sri Lanka Tourism Promotions Bureau and the performance team

Road Shows in Busan on 04 th June 2019 and in Seoul on 10th June

Two Road shows were successfully completed with a view to strengthen business relationships, and tourism industry relationships between two countries and VIP s from tourism field attended to both road shows and more than 50 Korean travel agents and media participated for the above events.

Coinciding with above events a Sri Lanka Cultural Center titled “Maligawa” was opened in the Jeju Island, Republic of Korea under the patronage of Mr. Kim Won-jung, a prominent Korean businessman, on 07 June 2019 in collaboration with the Embassy of Sri Lanka in the Republic of Korea and the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau.

Charge’ d’ Affaires of the Embassy of Sri Lanka in the Republic of Korea Jagath Abeywarna, Assistant Country Representative of Sri Lanka of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations Dr. D.B.T. Wijeratne and Managing Director of the Fadna Food and Nature (Pvt) Ltd. Chamendra Somatunga were among the Korean and Sri Lankan dignitaries at the opening ceremony of the “Maligawa”.

The Cultural Centre consists of a Ceylon Tea Cafe and an Art Gallery with a collection of photographs which illustrate numerous facets of Sri Lanka’s natural beauty, history, people, way of life and tea culture.

Delivering the congratulatory remarks at the opening ceremony, Chargé d’ Affaires Abeywarna stressed that the Cultural Centre would play a pivotal role in promoting Sri Lanka as a tourist destination as well as Ceylon Tea among the annual 15 Mn tourists including 3 Mn foreigners to the Jeju Island and the residents in the Island.