Sri Lanka Tourism begins destination brand recovery process

Sri Lankan’s are among the most warm and nurturing people on earth, when guests arrive on our shore’s they become family’ said Kishu Gomes, Chairman Sri Lanka Tourism. “And when family is hurt the entire community comes together to protect, nurture, mourn and grieve and heal together, this is our way and it has been our way from the beginning of time.”

He continued, “the promise of Sri Lanka is a promise of hope, of family, of deep awareness, of tolerance, of diversity, of sincere connection to humanity and nature and of generosity; we will live the promise of our motherland and we ask anyone who has ever visited us, relished our food, brewed our teas, cheered our cricket or just marveled at the beauty of a full moon to become ambassadors of kindness and compassion everywhere they go.”

“We are overwhelmed by the outpouring of love, support and solidarity from people everywhere and look forward to welcoming the world back home to Sri Lanka,” he added.

“In the immediate aftermath of the attack’s we rolled out our emergency response protocol; trained teams were deployed to the affected hotels, all hospitals and the airport to ensure that all tourists directly affected by the attacks received the all the care, attention and assistance they needed,” informed Gomes.

Tourists already in country and those scheduled to arrive in the hours and days following the attacks were also an immediate priority. In addition to the help desks at hotels, airports and tourist information centers Sri Lanka Tourism set up an emergency hotline to ensure tourists and their loved onesback home had access to accurateinformation and the entire suite of emergency services; updated information continues to be issued via local& global media, social media, and foreign missions on a regular basis.

“Addressing security issues is a prerequisite for the revival of tourism and we continue working closely with all relevant authorities to support all foreign nationals in the country. Sri Lankan police and Tri forces are working tirelessly to ensure the safety and security of all tourists currently in Sri Lanka. This is absolutely our first priority,” said Gomes.

Custodians of a key industry

With one in every ten Sri Lankan families depending on tourism for their livelihood both directly and indirectly, Sri Lanka Tourism is focused on ensuring that the right groundwork is laid to drive an effective and efficient recovery for this critical industry.

“We cannot allow ourselves to become paralyzed by fear, nearly half a million families across the island depend on us for their daily living; the impact on our economy must be mitigated.We are working to regain the confidence of global travellers and operators by demonstrating that Sri Lanka’s response to the incident is effective while reassuring future tourists that all appropriate steps are being taken by the Sri Lanka Government to prevent any future incidents and ensure the continued safety and security tourists within the country,”said Gomes

Several high-level cross industry working sessions that included both the public and private sector stakeholders have been conducted with the objective of outlining the strategic framework of the recovery strategy accompanied by a phased out action plan with the clear objective of minimizing the financial impact of cancellations and to maintain and rebuild the country brand and manage the long term impact of this tragic incident.

A task force is in place and having worked diligently over the course of the last week we are confident that a clear and actionable process is in place, resources allocated and global expertise procured to support the industry in its recovery.

Demonstrating resilience 

Sri Lanka Tourism will continue with its presence at Arabian Travel Market in Dubai from 28th April to 1st May 2019. Similarly, Sri Lanka Tourism will address the tourism community at the prestigious 5th UNWTO World Forum on Gastronomy Tourism in San Sabastian, Spain from 1st-2nd of May, where the  focus this year is on job creation and entrepreneurship as a means to advance tourism´s contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Sri Lanka Convention Bureau will also be present at IMEX in Frankfurt from the 21st to 23rd of May.  IMEX is a worldwide Exhibition for Incentive Travel, Meetings and Events, incorporating Meetings made in Germany.

The only tourism and travel fair in Sri Lanka, Sancharaka Udawa, will be held on 7th and 8th June. This unique exhibition, now in its ninth edition is open to all businesses within the local tourism ecosystem and is organized by Sri Lanka Association of Tour Operators (SLAITO) in collaboration with the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB).