100-strong team for Arabian Travel Market

Deputy Tourism Minister Faizer Mustafa will lead Sri Lanka's tourism promotion drive at the Arabian Travel Market scheduled to take place from May 6 to 9 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Heading a team of over 100 travel trade professionals including public and private sector officials, Mustafa will meet key officials from the region's travel trade industry to underline Sri Lanka's potential as a tourist destination; address a press conference to announce new promotions, as well as new routes to the island; chair a strategic meeting of key stakeholders involved in the promotion of the destination worldwide; and host a dinner for the travel trade and media.

"Sri Lanka has made encouraging growth in the first quarter of the year and the highest performing region has been the Middle East, which registered an increase of 80.6 per cent in comparison with 2007," Mustafa said.

He noted that Middle East countries offer tremendous potential for growth and can develop into a major travel origin market for Sri Lanka.

The Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) has organised a stand at the event to accommodate 46 co-participants from Sri Lanka that will exhibit under the SLTPB umbrella to present a strong and unified image of the island to the regional and international travel community.

"We are confident that our participation at this year's event will provide the Sri Lankan team with the opportunity to conduct business with travel trade visitors and buyers and directly address the target groups," said Dileep Mudadeniya, Managing Director of SLTPB.

"We have created a stand that will provide an ideal platform for networking with travel professionals and customers alike, and we are positive that many valuable leads will be followed up and converted into new business for Sri Lanka," Mudadeniya stressed. ATM is the most established and largest travel trade event of its kind in the Middle East region.

The high quality and varied travel sector representation guarantees that ATM is an extremely important exhibition for those wishing to enter or do business with the region or those wishing to meet existing customers.

SLTPB will fly in a special dance troupe from Sri Lanka.