In a bid to promote Sri Lanka as a premier travel destination, the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) recently invited 30 travel bloggers from 10 countries to experience the country’s unique hospitality, diverse cultures, cuisine and lifestyles through a series of influencer-led creative press trips between from October 28-November 8. The bloggers/influencers from countries such as United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, France, Australia, India, Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal and Hong Kong are expected to create over 1000 blog stories and social media posts as an immediate outcome of their visit. This initiative aligns with the government’s vision to attract the largest number of tourists to Sri Lanka by 2025, positioning the island as a must-visit destination for the upcoming winter season. 

Speaking at the event, Madhubani Perera, Director Public Relations at SLTPB welcomed the digital storytellers where a majority of them represented the Portugal Bloggers Association. She said that the storytellers were carefully selected to experience this beautiful country. Three different itineraries have been created for the bloggers, covering every province in the country. “Some will cover the Northern parts of the island while others will cover Uva, Sabaragamuwa and Central Provinces and the southern parts of Sri Lanka. Most of the niche tourism products will be covered during respective tours to experience the communities, travelling to the villages, mingling with villagers to tell their stories to the world. This is how the bloggers will contribute to make over 1000 blog posts to market Sri Lanka tourism overseas,” she added.

In his remarks, SLTPB Chairman Buddhika Hewawasam requested the bloggers/influencers to take Sri Lanka to the world while being a part of our culture. “We have something unique to offer all of you. We want to offer our culture, hospitality, our island and our life. Bring us more of your friends, family and colleagues. We not only expect tourists but we also expect long-lasting friendships, loyalty and long-lasting understanding between one another,” said Hewawasam. 

Sharing her insights, President of the Portuguese Travel Bloggers Association Monica Alves spoke about the relationship between Sri Lanka and Portugal. “Sri Lanka is lovely, it’s my first time here and it’s been great so far. I met Chaminda Munasinghe, Assistant Director PR (International Media) at SLTPB during an international event for travel content creators. We were in a tour chatting about things that we do. I was talking about Portugal and Chaminda was talking about Sri Lanka and we realized that Sri Lanka has preserved the Portuguese heritage here. From there onwards we started exploring ideas and I thought it would be great to show my followers the connection between Sri Lanka and Portugal. Then I asked Chaminda whether we could have a group of bloggers coming over to Sri Lanka. We have an association of about 50 travel bloggers in Portugal. In this group there are bloggers who write their stories in English, bloggers who write about sustainability, those who write about pets, we have a doctor in the group, two skilled photographers, we have an engineer, tour guides in Lisbon and even journalists,” she said while openly inviting officials from Sri Lanka to be a part of their annual travel fest which would be an ideal platform to share their stories with the world. 

Joining the group of international bloggers is Nivedith Gajapathy from India making his 16th trip to Sri Lanka. He said that the group of bloggers would love the country as different parts of the country are different to Colombo, dotted with mountains, beaches and various adventure activities. “Every time you visit Sri Lanka you find something new. You wouldn’t get bored. I’m here for the 16th time and 80% of my itinerary are things that I have not seen while in Sri Lanka. That tells a lot about this country. The people are very friendly, they love to show their country to us and in fact show their love. I will keep coming back to this beautiful country,” he said in conclusion. 
The bloggers/influencers will embark on an unforgettable journey across iconic locations including Colombo, Jaffna, Anuradhapura, Habarana, Sigiriya, Dambulla, Negombo, Galle, Bentota, Haputale, Badulla, Tissamaharama, Ratnapura and Udawalawa.