ABTA, PATA heads foresee improved tourism growth soon.

by Anjana Gamage

The Chief Executive of the Association of British Travel Agents Ltd (ABTA) Ian T. Reynolds and the Director-Communications Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Ken Scott was optimistic that Sri Lanka's tourism sector which was badly hit by the tsunami would pick up with a high performance in the days to come while also noting that at present the country was receiving a huge potential market from India and China.

In an interview with the "Daily News" at the Sri Lanka Tourist Board stand at the Travel Mart that concluded yesterday,the ABTA chief Executive said: "Sri Lanka Travel Mart is a timely event and a great opportunity to meet the local buyers and put Sri Lanka's travel and tourism sector back on track. Various industrial packages, unique crafts and other special features that were exhibited at the mart attracted many visitors. "It looked like getting the whole world under one roof. These things are good for long term benefits.

Reynolds further said: "ABTA has given its approval to British visitors to visit Sri Lanka and continue with the travel procedures as Sri Lanka is a safe destination. There will be a fluctuation in arrival numbers from time to time. But it will slowly pick with the government's reconstruction programme. ABTA is of the firm belief that Sri Lanka will achieve a growth of tourism from next year with the post tsunami recovery projects that are planned.

Meanwhile, Ken Scott of PATA said that Sri Lanka has a huge potential market from India and China.

"At the moment India and China are the two fastest growing markets for Sri Lanka. There are good buyers from these two countries. There is a 44 percent growth per year from China and over 25 percent from India", he said.

"Sri Lanka has to yet to fully recover from the tsunami catastrophe. There is lot to be done. There are some perspectives that are needed to be addressed. Some tourists from European countries still may feel it is inappropriate to have a holiday in the Indian Ocean. So we need a better publicity campaign and awareness program when handling these issues", he said.

According to him, the Sri Lanka Travel Mart is a showcase of its culture, handicrafts, fabrics and music.

"Sri Lanka is a very exotic and diverse destination. So it deserves to be called a world class mart, he said.

Meanwhile, ABTA and PATA are two organisations that are closely working with the SLTB to conduct awareness programmes on Sri Lanka tourism too.