Private sector-led destination campaign launched by SL Tourism Alliance

• Campaign aims to drive winter bookings and improve SL’s visibility
• Stresses on need to urgently communicate correct situation in country
• Promotional activities will revolve around theme ‘Fall in Love Again’
• Tourism sector stakeholders invited to join effort 

In an effort to increase the tourist traffic to Sri Lanka for the upcoming winter season, the Sri Lanka Tourism Alliance (SLTA) has launched a promotional campaign to promote the island nation. 

As there is a pressing need to showcase and pitch Sri Lanka as a destination that is open for tourism and is equipped to deliver the sought-after holiday experience, the SLTA has stepped up to kick off a destination marketing campaign. 

The aim of the effort is to drive winter bookings and increase the visibility of the country through a number of different mechanisms.  

This is a critical requirement, as despite the lifting of most advisories, the return to stability is not being communicated to consumers in key markets, who believe Sri Lanka is not ready for tourists, acknowledged the SLTA in a statement to the media. 

While global travel has picked up, Sri Lanka has not been successful in luring international visitors after the political and economic crisis escalation started in May this year. The campaign is launched to address the gap in promotions and help revive the hard-hit sector. 

“Thanks to the excellent winter season after COVID, Sri Lanka created such wonderful memories and word-of-mouth recommendations that promised to make the upcoming winter even better.  

The economic crisis put paid to that but with the return of stability, we still have an opportunity for a decent season, if only we urgently communicate the correct situation to consumers in key source markets,” said SLTA Chairman Malik Fernando. 

The campaign is primarily digital, covering the entire spectrum of the travel purchase decision, emulating best practices of successful tourism destinations. The UK, France, Germany and Spain are identified as the initial target group, while the UAE and GCC will too be focused upon. 

A consumer campaign on multiple platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Google Display Network and YouTube video pre-roll advertisements will run over the next three months. The campaign theme is ‘Fall in Love Again’, tied into the SLTA’s original theme of ‘Love Sri Lanka’. Content will be refreshed on a regular basis with key elements unique to Sri Lanka. Additionally, the SLTA will launch a ‘100 Reasons to Love Sri Lanka’ campaign on social channels with a separate reason each day. Given the negative coverage that Sri Lanka has received and continues to receive, the SLTA has created a portal of information that is regularly updated at https://www.lovesrilanka.org. 

 The SLTA shared that the web page has been optimised for keywords related to ‘Is Sri Lanka Safe?’, as it is one of the main concerns of the guests who are considering the destination. The page also contains a section on stories from travellers, to further enhance confidence through third-party messaging. Further, the SLTA has also strategically partnered with a number of local and global brands, with the goal of increasing visibility for the country through such collaborative content-driven initiatives.  

Videos focused on key topics will be released in the coming months and several PR initiatives are also in progress, with the members who have representation in key markets working together, in order to profile the destination. The effort is currently in progress in countries such as the UK, Spain, India and Germany among others. All initiatives carried out are open to all members of the SLTA and all tourism stakeholders are invited to join the campaigns, with the goal of increasing visibility for Sri Lanka and enhancing the image of the nation to global audiences.