Rediscover Sri Lanka - An international tourism drive

Sri Lanka announced its return to the global tourism market with the launch of “Rediscover Sri Lanka”, a US $ 4.1 million campaign to boost tourism to the country that is fast recovering from last year’s Tsunami.

SriLankan Airlines, Sri Lanka Tourism, and the Tourism Cluster joined together to spearhead the 3 ½ months campaign on international television and press, which started on 16th May.

“We are very optimistic that this campaign will definitely change the mindset of both the global tourism industry and the travelling public about visiting Sri Lanka and enjoying a vacation here,” said Peter Hill, Chief Executive Officer of SriLankan Airlines.

“The tourism industry is already moving upwards. Tourists are coming back. With Rediscover Sri Lanka we are showing the world that we are ready,” said Udaya Nanayakkara, Chairman of Sri Lanka Tourism.

The campaign will initially consist of commercials on pan-regional televisions in Europe, the Middle East, Far East, and South Asia such as CNN, BBC, National Geographic, A1, Sky, Animal Planet and Discovery.
Localised press advertisements will be published in the United Kingdom, Germany and France, the country’s major tourism markets, including The Mail on Sunday, The Guardian, The Times, The Sunday Times, Independent, Observer Magazine, FAZ, Frankfurter Rundshau, Der Speigel, L’Express, Le Nouvel Obervateur, Le Figaro and Le Figaro Travel Special. An Internet campaign is also being conducted with banner advertisements on 25 major travel websites.

The Rediscover Sri Lanka campaign will be supported by the overseas offices of SriLankan Airlines and Sri Lanka Tourism.

SriLankan Airlines is also concurrently running a series of media conferences in target markets to complement Rediscover Sri Lanka, and is offering up to 20% off on holiday packages.

Yet another aspect of the Rediscover Sri Lanka campaign will be a series of road shows in target markets.

Prema Cooray, Chairman of the Tourism cluster, said: “The message that we are sending to the world is that ‘We are back to normal now. You can come’. We have to change the perception and educate the world that Sri Lanka is ready to bounce back. Both the travelling public and frontline staff of travel agencies must be made aware that Sri Lanka is open for business.”

The Tourism Cluster is a USAID supported programme that promotes medium and long term initiatives to develop Sri Lanka’s tourism industry, and involves most of the country’s key hotels, tour operators and travel industry associations.

The television commercials touch on the global outpouring of support for the country in the aftermath of the Tsunami, with the line: “Sri Lanka thanks the world for caring, and in return invites you over.”

SriLankan Airlines is providing US $ 2.1 million in funding for the first two months of the Rediscover Sri Lanka campaign, and the next 1 ½ months will be financed by Sri Lanka Tourism and the Tourism cluster.

“Consumer promotion is vital at this stage. It is significant that all stakeholders in Sri Lanka’s tourism industry have come on board to participate in this campaign - the private sector, Sri Lanka Tourism and SriLankan Airlines,” said Prema Cooray. USAID, which supports the Tourism cluster, has pledged US $ 3 million for Sri Lanka’s tourism recovery efforts, of which US $ I million will be towards the Rediscover Sri Lanka campaign.

“The Tsunami was devastating. But we are now looking forward. We need to stop debating about whether this is the right time to begin promoting our country, and get on with it. Only then can we create awareness about the true situation here,” said Chandana De Silva, Head of Corporate Communications at SriLankan Airlines.

Priya Epitawala, Manager Advertising at SriLankan Airlines, noted that television commercials of the Rediscover Sri Lanka campaign had been tested with the expatriate community in Sri Lanka and in France through Sri Lanka Tourism’s office there. “We received some very positive feedback regarding the commercials,” she noted.

“We will be re-evaluating the campaign in June, and looking at ways to improve upon it,” said Ms. Epitawala.

Nanayakkara pointed out that the Tsunami had done little damage to the island’s tourism infrastructure.

“Less than 15% of the country’s landmass was affected by the Tsunami. Only a mere 0.5% of the road network was damaged, and 11% of railroads, most of which have already been repaired,” added Nanayakkara. Unfortunately, adverse publicity gave a completely incorrect perception of the situation in the country, after the first few critical weeks following the Tsunami.”

The effect on the island’s tourism infrastructure was even less significant. Only 48 of its 248 star-class hotels were damaged. Of these, 31 have already been repaired and are fully operational; 10 more are being totally refurbished and will be ready by the beginning of the Winter season in November 2005; and only seven have suffered structural damage.

“Those seven hotels account for only 468 of the country’s 14,000 hotel rooms,” said Nanayakkara.

Sri Lanka achieved a record 566,220 tourist arrivals in 2004, surpassing Sri Lanka Tourism’s target of 550,000. Sri Lanka Tourism is confident of achieving its even more ambitious target of 600,000 for 2005, despite the Tsunami.

Sri Lanka is also repositioning itself globally, and attracting more high-end tourists. Average spending per day per tourist rose to US $ 74 in 2004, up from US $ 62 a year earlier. The target for 2005 is US $ 84 per tourist per day. Signs of the recovery are already evident, with 167,511 arrivals in the first four months of 2005, after the Tsunami, up 3% from last year.

“Our goal is to have 1 million tourists annually by 2010. The role of the Rediscover Sri Lanka campaign is to achieve these targets and possibly exceed them,” said Nanayakkara. “We are driving home the fact that Sri Lanka is not just sun, sea and sand. Our tourism product is rich in diversity. We are rich in biodiversity and our wildlife parks offer many thrills; we possess ideal facilities for adventure tourism such as biking, canoeing, water sports and hiking; our nation is rich with a 2,500 year-old culture, with no less than seven UNESCO World Heritage Sites.”

Nanayakkara noted that many branded hotel chains were setting up in Sri Lanka, such as Aman Resorts, Banyan Tree, Sheraton, and Hyatt.

Among those involved in the production of the campaign were Grant McCann, Film Locations, Hit Factory, Video Image, Power House, and Vision Works, all from Sri Lanka and VHQ from Singapore.

“Sri Lanka’s biggest asset is its friendly, smiling people, who have proven that they have the resilience to bounce back,” said Nanayakkara.