Sri Lanka to host World Travel Awards Grand Finale in Colombo

From left: WTA Founder and President Graham Cooke, State Minister of Tourism Diana Gamage, WTA Business Development Director Mike Sawicki and Private Secretary to State Minister of Tourism Dr. Arosha Fernando

For the first time in the entire South Asia, the State Tourism Minister of Sri Lanka has won the bid to host the World Travel Awards (WTA) 2023 World Grand Finale Gala Ceremony in Colombo, on December 15. 

The event will see the participation of 117 countries, including all sectors of travel, such as hotels, tour operators, airlines, destinations, etc., a press release by the State Tourism Ministry said.
Yesterday, early in the morning, WTA Founder and President Graham Cooke and its Business Development Director Mike Sawicki arrived in Sri Lanka. They met with State Minister of Tourism Diana Gamage, Private Secretary to State Minister of Tourism Dr. Arosha Fernando and the senior officials of the State Tourism Ministry of Sri Lanka to discuss and plan the programme of the WTA 2023 World Grand Finale Gala Ceremony in Colombo, on December 15.
“WTA is the travel industry’s most prestigious awards programme, rewarding leaders in the tourism, airline, hotel and hospitality sectors and was established in 1993, exactly 30 years ago,” said Cooke.

“Today, the WTA brand is recognised globally as the ultimate hallmark of industry excellence. The WTA gala ceremonies are regarded as milestone events in the travel calendar, attended by the industry’s key decision makers, figureheads, influencers and media,” said Sawicki.
“It is very important to notice that this global event will immensely assist in clearing the bad publicity spread across the world during and after ‘Aragalaya’, where some think even today we have a massive fuel shortage, riots, etc. and unfortunately, not considering Sri Lanka as a positive tourist destination,” said Gamage. “As the participants of the event will witness the actual situation of the country by travelling in Colombo as well as around Sri Lanka, they will through social media, i.e., Instagram, Facebook, etc. update the rest of the world about the actual situation here, as most of them have millions of followers,” said Dr. Fernando.