Sri Lanka enters new era in French market

Sri Lanka was the buzzword on everyone's lips at the recently concluded edition of the IFTM (International French Travel Market) - Top Resa. Top Resa, the leading French tourism trade fair, took place from September, 22-25, in Paris.

The Sri Lanka tourism booth, occupied by SriLankan Airlines and 18 receptive agencies and hoteliers from Sri Lanka, at the Sri Lanka Tourism booth, was a hive of activity with the Sri Lankan officials, rapidly developing new business contacts and projects with French tourism stakeholders.

Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, Managing Director Dileep Mudadeniya said "The great confidence and positive buzz on Sri Lanka is particularly remarkable in France. During Top Resa, we have met several Tour Operators, amongst which a handful of major key players who had withdrawn from the destination and who are now resuming operations on Sri Lanka. The market is very reactive and ready to get involved. We are expecting massive evolutions from the French market."

Post-conflict, the French market has yielded a positive and continuous upward trend in tourist arrivals figures. A 108 percent increase was registered in August alone in comparison to August 2008 and a 55 percent leap from January to August 2009, compared to the corresponding period during the previous year.

Taking this into account, the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau will launch an aggressive marketing and communication campaign from November 2010 targeting the French consumers.

SriLankan Airlines in France, Managing Director Danny Schepers said "We have concretized new contracts with Tour Operators who had been absent from the market for several years. They will now feature Sri Lanka giving the country considerable exposure. Some Tour Operators wish to showcase Sri Lanka as 'destination of the year'.

We are confident that 2010 will be the year for the country and for SriLankan Airlines. It is now high time to seriously reconsider Paris - Colombo nonstop flights."

"With the various tourism development projects recently launched in the country, such as the eco-touristic development of Kalpitiya on the Western coast or the development of the whole Eastern coast from Trincomalee to the South, Sri Lanka appears as a new destination" said Dileep Mudadeniya. "In 2011, the "Visit Sri Lanka Year", we will be able to showcase a complete and new destination with an enlarged range of activities, environments and products." Seven to eight large tour operators will resume operations to Sri Lanka.

They have already begun to include Sri Lanka back in their tour catalogues.

President of Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators (SLAITO) Chandra Wickremasinghe said "We were greeted by a fantastic response with a definite commitment from agents.