Travel trade professionals at Jeddah roadshow

A top-level team from Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) led by Deputy Minister of Tourism, Faiszer Mustapha and representatives from the travel trade met a large number of travel trade professionals in Jeddah to discuss ways of boosting tourism in Sri Lanka in the post-war era.

This event is a part of a series of road shows that will continue for eight days, covering the cities of Riyadh and Dammam, apart from Jeddah. A large gathering of media and corporate decision-makers including officials from the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce attended the road show.

The Consul General of Sri Lanka in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia A.L.M. Lafeer praised SLTPB for taking this initiative to organise the Tourism Promotion Road Show and thanked the tour operators of Sri Lanka who participated at the event. Faiszer Mustapha said that the Sri Lankan team had the opportunity to interact with the Saudi travel trade to enable pan-industry collaboration that advances the interests of Sri Lanka's travel industry.

"We are now poised for a new era of peace that Sri Lanka is expecting within the next couple of months, following the victories of the armed forces against the LTTE.

The Sri Lankan Government is positive about the post conflict scenario and we are looking at an aggressive promotional strategy for Sri Lanka Tourism," he said.

Despite the global economic recession and a downward spiral in the tourism industry worldwide, Middle East travellers visiting Sri Lanka surged by 24 per cent in 2008, according to SLTPB.

Factors such as government support for the tourism sector, and expansion of low-cost carrier services are also contributing to the growth of the industry.

The tourism industry is one of Sri Lanka's key economic pillars and Sri Lanka Tourism is keen to develop business from the Middle East region by enhancing its position as a tropical paradise.