Lanka to attract more Indian corporate tourists

Tamara NISSANKA

FOR THE FIRST TIME the Sri Lankan Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) Industry offered a special rate to Indian corporate tourists, through a major promotion recently launched by the Sri Lanka Convention Bureau (SLCB) in Indian metros.

The special promotion is targeted at attracting the Indian corporate community to Sri Lanka as a prime meetings and incentives destination. India’s outbound MICE market is estimated US $ 1 million.

Member of the Sri Lanka MICE Promotion delegation to India, Chairman of SLCB, Prema Cooray said yesterday that 15 to 20 per cent of total tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka is generated by the MICE Industry.

The promotion exercise was attended by around 90 per cent of the organizations occupied in the Sri Lankan tourism industry.

The delegation had spoken with the Karnataka Chamber of Commerce and the Andrapradesh Women’s Chamber of Commerce where they received a high reception by Indian corporates and exchanged their views of coming to Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan delegation also saw a commendable presence by the Indian press at the Promotion.

The delegation had been able to create awareness among the Indian corporate sector on the product profile, proximity and price while emphasising the benefits the Corporates will receive by conducting their programmes in Sri Lanka. “We captured the city”, he said.

General Manager of SLCB Vipula Wanigasekara said, “We were able to clarify few issues that were in the minds of the trade and the corporate officials. We made it clear that Sri Lanka is visa free destination for the Indian passport holder.”

Prema Cooray told ‘Daily News Business’ that there would be substantial revenue to the country as a result of the promotion and that the Bureau expects a 50 per cent growth in the number of Indian MICE tourists to Sri Lanka within the next six months.

The MICE promotion will continue in New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and two other cities in the coming months.