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| Monday, 4 August 2003 |
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by Tharika Goonathilake The Sri Lanka Tourist Board in collaboration with its overseas offices is making elaborate arrangements to cash in on the forthcoming English Cricket Tour, with a special promotional and market drive overseas to entice fans to visit the country. With targets set at an ambitious 10,000 arrivals including the die-hard English fans the 'Barmy Army', the Sri Lanka Tourist Board (SLTB) together with the travel trade is also working on pre and post tour packages and a series of special events to coincide with the Tour, Sri Lanka Tourist Board Chairman Paddy Withana told the Daily News yesterday. According to Withana, sports, as a market segment, is still in its nascent stages in Sri Lanka. However, given the vast interest enjoyed by the country both as a cricket playing nation and a host of international tournaments, the marketing opportunities for promoting Sports related tourism are enormous. The five-week-long English tour which is scheduled to commence in mid November will be marketed in the U.K on a grand scale with a promotional drive to fan the interest of cricket enthusiasts with a destination cum cricket package," the Chairman said. The English tour will also be marketed at the World Travel Mart in November, one of the travel trade's biggest international events providing a platform to showcase destinations and product profiles while, facilitating leisure related business. According to the Chairman, given the different venues for the matches; Colombo, Galle, Dambulla and Kandy "the potential to market the diversity of the destination is really good." Hence, entertainment extravaganzas, shopping opportunities and the introduction of the special steam engine for Kandy- Nuwara Eliya rail tours with visits to the Tea Museum and several other localities of interest, are also part of the arrangements to woo cricket enthusiasts. The SLTB is also exploring the possibilities of introducing a destination profile media clip during the tour coverage, in addition to a pre media campaign with the help of several leading overseas travel and sports writers. "In 2001, we had a very good response. The endeavour to come out with a specific package prior to the actual events this year was largely due to this interest," he said. Chipping in on the promotional endeavour will be the City Hotels and other outskirts hotel properties associated with the Tour, who are also making arrangements to host special cultural and entertainment spots for both local and foreign fans. On the cards are promotional events for each of the cities to depict the cultural and attractions of each location, handicraft and souvenir stalls at the cricket venues and Hawker Street style food promotions. |
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