SMS campaign to drive local tourism

The Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau launched a SMS campaign to lure the domestic traveller to explore the country.

Local service providers Dialog, Mobitel, Airtel, Etisalat and Hutch will jointly run the campaign which encompasses six questions.

Each question will record the highest polled attraction amongst the categories of Beaches, Heritage, Wildlife, Festival, Adventure Sport and Waterfall.

This competition would serve a two-fold purpose. Firstly it educates the public on all the different attractions in Sri Lanka.

Dialog Senior Manager Chirantha de Zoysa, Hutch Marketing Manager Zaharine R Hameen, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau Acting Managing Director Malraj Kiriella, SLTDA Director-General S Kalaiselvan and Airtel Corporate Affairs Head Johann Munaweera at the press conference. Picture by Sumanachandra Ariyawansa

Secondly it informs the Tourism Authorities of any new tourist attractions that may not have been previously promoted in its programs.

The latter will also help serve as a survey to develop future marketing promotional plans for international tourism.

This campaign will help gauge the preferences of the domestic tourist and allow Sri Lanka Tourism to market and promote these attractions internationally. In the long-term this will be a driving force to enhance the local attractions to world class standards.

“We want to use modern technology to reach out to all tourists in and around the country. Domestic tourism is a pivotal aspect of our business plan for the tourism industry in the next couple of months. We hope to capitalize by using the data retrieved from this campaign,” Acting Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau Managing Director Malraj Kiriella said.

This campaign is being launched in lieu of World Tourism Day that falls on September 27. The main event will be held in Kirala Kelle in Matara.

Sri Lanka Tourism has always celebrated World Tourism Day with much pomp and pageantry along with launching a worthy cause every year.

This year celebrates the 30th year of UNTWO World Tourism Day and this year’s theme has been declared as “Tourism and Biodiversity. The SMS campaign will be ably promoted in various media vehicles.

“Surveys have shown that the most outstanding attraction in Sri Lanka is its people and their ‘friendly and nice” nature. Our locals could treat the international visitors with our well-known hospitality and friendly smiles which is a unique selling proposition for Sri Lanka, in addition to our diverse culture and great attractions. When tourists return to their own country they could spread this message about Sri Lanka,” Kiriella said.