Mastercard secures 50+ travel offers to support revival of SL’s tourism industry

From left: Mastercard Manager Merchants and Commerce Angelic Gong, Mastercard Country Manager Sri Lanka and the Maldives Sandun Hapugoda, Tourism and Lands Minister Harin Fernando and Sri Lanka Tourism Promotions Bureau Chairman Chalaka Gajabahu 

As the situation in Sri Lanka continues to improve, Mastercard yesterday announced its latest effort to promote the island nation as a safe and affordable destination for inbound travellers. 

With tourism being a key pillar of the country’s economy, restoring holidaymakers’ confidence and appetite to visit Sri Lanka is the natural next step, following the relaxation of travel advisories for Sri Lanka in a number of countries.

To support these objectives, Mastercard has directly sourced more than 50 offers from travel industry partners, including hotels, resorts, restaurants and tour operators. This collaborative effort with the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotions Bureau (SLTPB) includes Mastercard using the ‘Visit Sri Lanka’ slogan.  

For the cardholders interested in visiting Sri Lanka, Mastercard has brought together comprehensive travel benefits that can be explored on Mastercard’s Priceless Specials platform (https://specials.priceless.com).

This curated website is a one-stop shop serving Mastercard cardholders globally, giving them access to all relevant offers in any part of the world, based on their card type. 

“The tourism industry has always been one of the most important supporting pillars of Sri Lanka’s economy. However, owing to the recent concerns in the country, global media outlets have refrained from promoting a positive outlook on Sri Lanka, leading to diminishing traveller confidence,” said Tourism Minister Harin Fernando. 

“The Government of Sri Lanka highly appreciates Mastercard’s efforts to support the industry by changing the narrative in an effort to bring more travellers to our tropical shores,” he added.

“As a long-time partner of the Sri Lankan government, this collaboration with the SLTPB is Mastercard’s latest initiative to support the revival of the country’s tourism industry,’’ said Mastercard Country Manager Sri Lanka and the Maldives Sandun Hapugoda.

“Reinvigorating this hard-hit sector is nothing short of essential to the nation’s economic recovery and that’s what this effort looks to bolster.”