Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau bagged the “Best Booth Design Award” at Korea’s largest international travel fair, Korea World Travel Fair (KOTFA) held last week in Seoul from 29th May to June 01st, 2014. Sri Lanka Tourism stall stood elegant at the exhibition, with grand décor of culture, beaches, wild life, festivals, water sports, Buddhist attractions of Sri Lanka. Among the crowd of visitors that attracted the stall were the representatives from national tourist organizations, tour operators, tour & travel agents, and online travel agencies. More than 60 countries participated for KOTFA this year representing Asia, Europe, Oceania, America, Africa and Middle East. Destinations such as Russia, Malaysia, China, Egypt, Thailand, Maldives, Sweden, Kuwait, South Africa, India were among the international participants at the KOTFA 2014.

For the second consecutive year, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau together with representatives from the travel and hotel industry in Sri Lanka participated at the KOTFA Travel fair 2014. Sri Lanka Mission in Seoul facilitated the participation of Sri Lanka Tourism at the event.

KOTFA is considered the largest travel trade show in Korea, connecting the global travel fraternity for more than two decades. KOTFA is also the only travel show in KOREA with a balanced mix of travel trade, corporate and general visitors. It is the best platform for marketing to the KOREA travel trade, MICE segment and tourists. Every year, KOTFA draws participants from National Tourist Organizations, State Government Tourism Departments, Tour Operators, Travel Agents, Hotel & Resorts, Airlines, Online Travel Agencies and many other segments of the travel and tourism industry.

More than 4800 exhibitors and 120,600 trade visitors from 60 countries and domestic gathered for OTM ,making it the perfect meeting place for networking, face-to-face interaction, deals of tomorrow and building successful long-term business relationships.

Sri Lanka Tourism, under the guidance of the Minister of Economic Development, has identified Korea as an emerging market for Sri Lanka with high potential for growth. Sri Lanka Tourism is all prepared to roll out a mega outdoor promotional campaign in Korea within the next month with the aim of increasing destination awareness among Korean travelers.

Within the first quarter of year 2014 Korean market arrivals recorded a 16.7% increase compared to the same period last year. Korean Air started operating direct flights to Sri Lanka from 2013 onwards securing easy passage for Korean Travelers to Sri Lanka. With all these promotions in place Sri Lanka Tourism hopes to reach the goal of 2.5 million visitors by the year 2016.