Sri Lanka’s Couch Safari gains popularity across tourism target markets

The first round of promotional efforts taken to position Sri Lanka as a holiday destination amidst the pandemic has turned out successful with the ‘Couch Safari’ initiative of the Tourism Promotion Bureau becoming increasingly popular amongst international travellers.

The virtual Couch Safari was the first of its kind to be launched by Sri Lanka Tourism where the destination marketing activities was carried out entirely online.

Maximising on the opportunities brought about by the pandemic, of which one is the increased focus on online content, the Sri Lanka Tourism Bureau (SLTB) conceptualised a unique concept where the country’s wildlife was livestreamed on top social media platforms.

Alongside exploring Sri Lanka’s unique wildlife, the Couch Safari not only showcases unedited footages but also has experts in the field providing insights of the animals, their habitats, and their behaviour as they occur, making it an educational experience as well.

While given the option of choosing between sunrise and sunset safaris, the audience is able to interact with the 
hosts in real-time.

The first episodes covered Minneriya and audulla National Parks, and had over 100,000 impressions and over 800 comments.

“We have had a great response from viewers, and the engagement is very high. There is such a latent demand for wildlife on the island and this shows the necessity of promoting Sri Lanka’s wildlife to the world,” said Sri Lanka Tourism Chairperson Kimarli Fernando in a statement to the media yesterday.

She also shared that the authority has received “large” number of requests for the proposed competition ‘My Sri Lankan Story’, where foreign viewers will be able to win a getaway in Sri Lanka by sharing a holiday photo from Sri Lanka on their Facebook or Instagram account with a short, creative description. In addition to live streaming the episodes on social media channels such a Facebook and YouTube, the content was also aired on channels such as Roku TV, 
Apple TV and Periscope.

The Sri Lanka’s Couch Safari was showcased to the international audience in partnership with the Wildlife Department, Archeology Department, CCF, Civil Aviation, Defense Secretary, and Sri Lanka Police.

Next up: Exploring Udawalawa and Yala
Coming up next in the Couch Safari journey is an up-close and personal session with the residents of Udawalawa and Yala.

The team will spend two days in Udawalawa National Park and three more streaming from Yala National Park.
Global audiences will be able to witness leopards in their very own habitats given that Yala National Park is known for having one of the highest leopard densities in the world.

Located in South East of Sri Lanka bordering the panoramic Indian Ocean, Yala National Park is home to 44 varieties of mammal and 215 bird species.

Upcoming Couch Safari live-streaming times
Udawalawe, 10th November 7.00AM (IST) + 5.30 GMT
Udawalawe, 10th November 3.00PM (IST) + 5.30 GMT
Yala, 11th November 7.00AM (IST) + 5.30 GMT
Yala, 12th November 7.00AM (IST) + 5.30 GMT
Yala, 13th November 3.00PM (IST) + 5.30 GMT

Unique Observations
Subsequent to the live-streaming session from Minneriya National Park, the team of videographers learnt that the elephants are moving to Kaudulla National Park with the arrival of monsoon.
Following the herd to Kaudulla, the team was greeted by a bunch of Purple Faced Leaf Monkeys which were considered endangered and endemic to Sri Lanka!