Get Sri Lankan'ed concludes with press conference in Mumbai

Sri Lanka Tourism's second 3Day Mega Promotional campaign named " Get Sri Lanken'ed" kicked off in style in the city of Mumbai on 10th Friday 2013 with a high profile media conference held in Taj Lands End Hotel- Salcette -Mumbai . The press conference was the first of series of events lined up under the "Get SriLankan'ed" promotional campaign of Sri Lanka Tourism, implemented with the aim of positioning Sri Lanka as a most sought after travel destination in emerging markets of the world.

Organised with joint efforts from Public and Private sectors, the "Get Sri Lankaned" campaign has been initiated under the advice of H.E the President Mahinda Rajapaksa inspired by the vision of developing sustainable tourism industry in Sri Lanka. During the press conference the Indian media was briefed about the objective of the promotional campaign and the nature of events now in progress in Mumbai.

The press conference was attended by Muthu Sivalingam, Deputy Minister of Economic Development, Sanath Jayasuriya (MP) Sri Lanka tourism Brand Ambassador, Upekka Samaratunga, Consul in Mumbai, Bhashwara Gunaratna Chairman, Sri Lanka Tourism, Rumay Jauffer, Managing Director of Sri Lanka Tourism, Nishantha Ranatunga- Secretary, Sri Lanka Cricket, Douglas Nanayakkara, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Higher Education, Rohit Khosla, General Manager- Taj Group of Hotels.

The press conference held in Mumbai was able to attract more than 120 high profile media from the leading publications and broadcasters including Hindustan Times, Indian Express, DNA, Mumbai Mirror, Bombay Times, New Indian Express, Deccan Herald, Finanacial Express, The Hindu , NDTV, CNN -IBN, India News, Zee TV , Live India etc. creating wide coverage for the event by the Indian Media. The event was graced with the traditional Sri Lankan dance performances of the Western province dance group that captured everyone's attention during the event.

Addressing the gathering the Deputy Minister,Muthu Sivalingam noted that India and Sri Lanka have many similarities as Asian Nations and the long standing relationship they have as close neighbors creates immense opportunities for both countries to share common interests, values and develop socio-economic ties with each other.

"We would like to call India is our dearest friend" remarked the Hon. Deputy Minister emphasizing the good will existing between the two countries. He also stressed the giant efforts put into developing tourism industry by the government of Sri Lanka and the Ministry of Economic Development, and it is time to reap the benefits of tourism industry of Sri Lanka.

Sanath Jayasuriya (MP) and Tourism Brand Ambassador, captured the center of attention of the media during the press conference and in his speech mentioned that "I am glad to be in India on a different mission to cricket, my country has always supported me throughout my career as a cricketer and I am inviting all my media friends here today to help us promote Sri Lanka in India to enhance the relationship of both nations. I am here to bat my countries tourism. As Mumbai its like to second home to me" he maintained.

Bhashwara Gunarathna Chairman, Sri Lanka Tourism addressing the media explained the rationale behind launching " Get Sri Lankaned" campaign in India and how Sri Lanka Tourism plans to achieve maximum influx of Indian tourists from Indian market.

"According to UNWTO reports Indian out bound tourists will rise to 50 million in 2020.

Sri Lanka's target is to attract 400,000 Indian tourists by year 2016 thus helping to reach the goal of 2.5 million arrivals by year 2016." Gunaratna also added that "we are thankful to the President of Sri Lanka and Basil Rajapaksa, Minister of Economic Development for the continuous guidance provided to carry out promotional campaigns of this nature to develop travel and tourism industry of Sri Lanka.

Nishantha Ranatunga, Secretary of Sri Lanka Cricket adding his thoughts on the promotional campaign said that both India and Sri Lanka are now in a position to create greater advancement in their common interests beyond cricket and tourism is one major source of linking the two countries together. "We are here today because we can ensure that our country is a great destination to travel, than in 10 years back, where the picture is a different one." Sri Lanka's Consul General of Mumbai, Upekka Samaratunga speaking during the conference highlighted the strong diplomatic relations existing between the two countries and the strategic advantages of targeting Indian market for travel and tourism development in Sri Lanka. She noted the Mumbai has high potential for tourism growth being the economic and industrial hub of India and housing the wealthiest people who are frequent travelers and investors in many avenues of travel trade.

Rumy Jauffer, Managing Director of Sri Lanka Tourism, with a detailed presentation explained to the media how the Mumbai three Day promotional campaign is planned to be execute in Mumbai and the events that would take place during the period.

All activities including Sri Lankan Cultural show, Sri Lankan Food Festivals, B2B meetings between the travel trade of the two countries and Business Seminars etc. was launched at the Taj Land's End in Mumbai. The event wcased over 50 Sri Lankan public and private sector institutions, representing tourism, trade and investment in their joint efforts to create a single collaborative platform for promoting travel, trade and investments of Sri Lanka.