Global campaign to market Sri Lanka as more than just a bucket list destination

From left: SLTPB Director Marketing Dushan Wickramasuriya, SLTPB Chairman Chalaka Gajabahu and Phoenix Ogilvy Sri Lanka CEO Sudesh Sundhara Moorthy
PIC BY KITHSIRI DE MEL

• Will be first major worldwide campaign in over 16 years
• Focuses on a wide-ranging category, instead of only wellness and beaches
• To be rolled out with a budget of Rs.1.6bn, over 18 months
• More financial allocations to be made as campaign proceeds
• Paperwork underway to ensure branding and positioning campaign remains consistent

By Shabiya Ali Ahlam 
Sri Lanka’s upcoming global tourism campaign is slated to showcase the island nation from a new perspective, highlighting a wider range of experiences to a broader audience.
The concept of the global campaign, which was launched in the second week of August but shared with the media only on Tuesday (29), focuses on repositioning Sri Lanka as a destination worthy of revisits, instead of a mere bucket list destination. 

The new campaign is the first major worldwide promotional effort the island nation will be launching after over 16 years. Past attempts to launch a mega-scale campaign were unsuccessful, due to the changes in government, leadership of the Sri Lanka Tourism Board and tender issues. 
Unlike the previous promotional campaigns, the upcoming 360 global tourism promotional effort would be the first of its kind for Sri Lanka, as it does not focus on one particular aspect but brings the spotlight on wide-ranging experiences the destination can offer, said Sri Lanka Tourism Promotions Bureau (SLTPB) Chairman Chalaka Gajabahu. 
“Sri Lanka has had many campaigns before, some that were great. However, none of them left a proper footprint and were focused on one particular area, wellness or sun and beach. We wanted to change that in this campaign.
Sri Lanka is an all-in-one capsule minus the snow and that is exactly what we want to tell the world while positioning the destination right,” said Gajabahu while briefing journalists on the details of the upcoming campaign. 

The campaign awarded to Ogilvy will be rolled out with a budget of Rs.1.6 billion, for 18 months and will see more funds allocated as it proceeds. 
Based on the concept unveiling, the campaign will be rolled out with a three-phased messaging strategy. Phase one will focus on an interim digital campaign (from September), phase two (from January) will be a destination positioning campaign and the third phase will focus on destination stories. 
The interim digital campaign aims to inform travellers that Sri Lanka is safe to visit and ready to welcome international visitors.  The destination positioning will focus on differentiating the island nation from other destinations and give them a compelling reason to visit and revisit Sri Lanka. 
The third phase will narrate compelling stories that pull discerning, high-end travellers toward Sri Lanka to discover and experience the uniqueness of the island nation. 
Global campaign
Meanwhile, Gajabahu shared that work is underway to create the necessary paperwork to ensure that the campaign does not change or alter going forward, to allow Sri Lanka tourism to be consistent in its branding and positioning efforts.