With Boxing Day test match:

SLTPB launches tourism promotion campaign in Australia

Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau today launched a promotional campaign in Australia, parallel to the National Cricket Team's tour to Australia, in a bid to attract a slice out of the growing Australian travellers.

The campaign, which was launched with the start of the historic 'Boxing Day' Test match played at the Melbourne Cricket Grounds (MCG) will be continued during the test series and the upcoming five one day international(ODI) matches between Sri Lanka and Australia. Sri Lanka Tourism said, the campaign will reach nearly 75 million TV viewers around the world, who will be glued to television sets, watching cricket matches.

Sri Lanka Tourism identifies Australia as a vital market and executes a series of promotional campaign under the advice and guidance of Basil Rajapaksa, Minister of Economic Development. The latest cricket based promotional campaign, which is the first of its kind in Australia by the Sri Lanka, is a part of the overall programme of Sri Llanka Tourism to attract Australian travellers to Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka Tourism is aiming to promote the county's beaches, its heritage, wildlife aspects and also its various cultural festivals to Australians. The ongoing campaign is using a number of promotional methods to target both the crowd in the stadium and millions of TV viewers watching cricket matches across the world. Video vignettes and commercials are the tools being used to promote the country, which are displayed on the Mega LED screen, located in the ground. Sri Lanka Tourism logo is also been placed in 'Boundary Signage's' of the ground.

Sri Lanka has only attracted just 0.5 % out of the seven million Australians who have travelled out of their country annually.

Sri Lanka Tourism targets to attract 50,000 Australian tourists during 2013 and already attracted 35,000 visitors this year.