SLTPB uses Boxing Day match to promote tourism

Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) has launched a promotional campaign in Australia, in parallel to the National Cricket Team’s tour to Australia, in a bid to attract a slice out of the growing Australian travelers.

Sri Lanka Tourism targets to attract 50,000 Australian tourists during the year 2013 and already attracted 35,000 visitors in this year. Sri Lanka has only attracted just 0.5 percent out of the 7 million Australians who have travelled out of their country annually.

The campaign, which was launched recently 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 in the upcoming five one-day international (ODI) matches between Sri Lanka and Australia.

Sri Lanka Tourism said, the campaign would reach nearly 75 million TV viewers around the world, who will be glued to television sets, watching Cricket matches. It has identified Australia as a vital market and plans to execute a series of promotional campaigns.

The latest cricket based promotional campaign, which is the first of its kind in Australia by Sri Lanka is a part of the overall program of Sri Lanka Tourism to attract the Australian travelers to the country. Sri Lanka Tourism is aiming to promote the county’s beaches, heritage, wildlife aspects and also its various cultural festivals to the 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.