ITB 2007 - major tourism promotion platform

Hiran H. Senewiratne

TOURISM FAIR: The Sri Lanka Tourist Board (SLTB) will participate in the International Tourisms Bourse (ITB) Berlin- ITB 2007, which is the largest international travel and tourism fair in the world, together with all stakeholders of Sri Lankan tourism.

Over 100 tourism industry members representing 42 travel agents and hoteliers, SriLankan Airlines and Sri Lanka Tourism will be represented at ITB-2007.

This year it will have 10 booths and 26 slots in the common area of the exhibition hall. The Minister of Tourism Milinda Moragoda, Deputy Minister Faizer Mustapha, SLTB Chairman Renton De Alwis and many top officials in the industry are expected to participate. The event which commenced yesterday and go on till March 11 at the Berlin Fair ground.

According to SLTB, the importance of this event has extended beyond Germany during the past years and has received the attention from all over the world. ITB is an important meeting point of experts on tourism as well as on tourism service industries.

The Western Europe tourist arrivals were 284,440 by the end of 2004 and last year it significantly dropped with the uncertainty in the country. The tourist arrivals from Eastern European region also declined. Therefore we want to recapture this lucrative market, which went down due to various reasons, a top official of the SLTB said.

It is highly important to engage in tourism promotions continuously in Germany as it is an important primary market to Sri Lankan Tourism and ITB Travel and Tourism Fair has been identified as one of the most effective tools that offers the route to success on the biggest platform of the travel branch in Germany.

A special Ayurveda promotional campaign has been organised at the event. ITB is the ideal forum for establishing new customer contacts and conducting business and guarantees high-quality customer contacts and attracts high-ranking professionals with decision-making powers and shows a steady increase in the number of exhibitors and visitors.