Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau in collaboration with the Sri Lanka Embassy in Sweden arranged representatives from several Sri Lankan Destination Management Companies (DMCs) to participate at MATKA Nordic Travel Fair, held from 21-24 January 2016 at the Messukeskus, Expo and Convention Centre in Helsinki, Finland. This is the first time that Sri Lanka Tourism arranged participation in the MATKA fair in Finland.

The Sri Lankan stand was inaugurated by the Honorary Consul General of Sri Lanka to Finland, Mr. Amos Gyllenbogel. Representatives of Sri Lankan Airlines in Scandinavia & Nordic region also participated in the opening ceremony. Sri Lankan tour companies, namely; Ayubowan Tours and Travels (Pvt) Ltd, Butterflies (Pvt) Ltd, Deluxe Vacations (Pvt) Ltd, Eco Team Sri Lanka, Lanka Sportreizen (LSR) and Siddhalepa Ayurveda Health Resort participated in the travel fair. Sri Lanka Tourism was represented by Ms. Thavishya Mullegamgoda, First Secretary (Commercial) of the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Sweden.

Sri Lanka stand at the MATKA Travel Fair 2016 featured attractive aspects of cultural heritage and natural beauty of the island. Ceylon Tea boutique was the most popular section of the Sri Lanka stand. Throughout the fair there was much demand for Ceylon tea among visitors and traditional Sri Lankan food were also offered to the public at the stand.

The ardent and passionate travelers of all ages attended MATKA travel fair, to make inquiries on exploring future travel trends and to discover for themselves exiting and exotic destinations.  The fair recorded an attendance of around 67,000 visitors and 14,000 out of them were veterans in the travel trade. A number of 983 exhibitors and 5,800 exhibitor representatives from 83 countries participated in the MATKA travel fair.

Tourist arrivals in Sri Lanka from Finland and Nordic countries have increased y-o-y. With Sri Lanka emerging as one of the popular destination among Scandinavian/Nordic tourists, Sri Lanka’s participation at the MATKA Nordic Travel Fair 2016, couldn’t have come at a better time.