Lanka Tourism office opens in Dubai: ME tourism boom mooted

Shirajiv Sirimane in UAE

Sri Lanka has opened a Tourism Promotion Office in Dubai and Aslam Sulaiman has been appointed as the Promotion Officer, said Managing Director, Sri Lanka Tourism Dilip Muddeniya.

He said that the Gulf arrivals have increased by 30 per cent last year and with promotion office in the region it can be increased further.

Speaking to Daily News Business after the opening ceremony of the 15th Arabian Travel Market at Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre here yesterday he said that this was very encouraging.

The tourism boom in the Emirates and the broader Middle East has brought unprecedented interest to the region and this is another reason for Sri Lanka to set up a regional office.

He said that the Deputy Minister of Tourism Faiser Musthafa had played a key role in this market by reorganising the participation of the Arabian Travel Market, the premier event for the Gulf Traveller.

"Three years ago it was just another event attended by Sri Lanka Tourism. However since working together with Minister of Tourism Milinda Moragoda there was a more focused approach which is now yielding results," he said.

Arabian Travel Market is the industry's leading travel and tourism exhibition and this year it is expected to attract a record 23,449 industry players from over 100 countries. Countries represented at ATM for the first time this year include Bangladesh, the Philippines, Djibouti, Georgia, Senegal and Nepal.

Meanwhile Sheikh Ahmed, Dubai Civil Aviation President and Emirates Group chairman and CEO, accompanied by numerous dignitaries, cut the ribbon to kick off the ATM which concludes on Friday.

Event organisers Reed Travel Exhibitions said that international representatives in Asia, the Americas, Europe and Africa had grown by 10 per cent, with Middle East companies increasing their allocation by 5per cent for the event.

"Over the years, Arabian Travel Market has evolved in tandem with the regional travel and tourism industry's growth and development.

This shows that the evolution has been a continuing process and reflects the Middle East's emergence as one of the world's most prominent and exciting tourism hubs," Richard Mortimore, Reed managing director, said. It was also announced that the number of tourists flooding to Dubai is expected to shoot up to 10 million by 2010, compared to seven million last year.