'Lanka has ignored massive Denmark tourist potential'

Shirajiv SIRIMANE

UNDER-UTILISATION: Sri Lanka is under- utilizing the tourism potential from Denmark said team leader of the visiting Denmark delegation Ole Hansen on a study exchange program of the Rotary Club Metropolitan Sri Lanka.

He said that Denmark has a population of over 5.5 million and people love to travel to Asian countries. At present the Denmark arrivals are not that significant and the authorities in Sri Lanka should try to attract more Denmark tourists as the country has a tremendous potential," he said

He said that more marketing promotions should be done in Denmark to woo tourists.

The younger generation in Danish like adventure and cultural tourism while the elder community like beach stays," he said.

Hansen who is a co owner of a luxury hotel in Denmark said that there are investors in Denmark who are looking at investing in Sri Lanka. "They are currently observing the situation in Sri Lanka," he said.

Legal Consultant in the group Pia Pytlich said that they had second thoughts of visiting Sri Lanka when they were invited by the Rotary International in Colombo as a part of their respiratory program.

"There were adverse travel advisories not to visit Sri Lanka and we found out that they were all exaggerated," she said.

It is a fact that not a single tourist was targeted in Sri Lanka unlike in Bali, Bangkok, Egypt and some other countries. She said that when they listen to the people and hoteliers in the country they are now confident that Sri Lanka is a safe destination for tourists.

She also said that the Colombo Airport is one of the finest and said that when they landed they thought that they were in an European airport.