The Embassy of Sri Lanka in Doha, in coordination with Lulu Group, launched a multifaceted Sri Lanka Promotional Event titled “Taste of Sri Lanka” “Sri Lanka Handloom and Batik Saree Fest”, with a view to augment the image of the country, amongst the nationals of Qatar and foreign expatriates, residing in the State of Qatar.

The event was organized to coincide with the celebrations of the 74^th anniversary of Independence of Sri Lanka.   Ambassador of Sri Lanka to the State of Qatar Mafaz Mohideen inaugurated this mega event on 06 February 2022 along with Director Lulu Group at LuLu Hypermarket in D-Ring Road in Doha Dr. Mohamed Althaf Musliam Veetil. A large number of invitees and guests including corporate leaders and businessmen, importers of goods and services from Sri Lanka, members of the media, among others, attended the ceremony. The event will showcase in all 17 Lulu Hypermarket Stores in Qatar until 12 February 2022. Lulu Group International is one of the largest retail chains in Asia and the largest in the Middle East region.

This week-long Sri Lanka produce and food mart presents a unique experience to local and expatriate customers with a wide variety of fresh vegetables, fruits, specially imported from Sri Lanka, offered at promotional prices. This year’s event has a number of new products and goods displayed and marketed such as Kithul flour with Cinnamon, preserved food items, authentic spices, various kinds of biscuits and confectionary products. Many diversities of healthy organic coconut products such as coconut cream, coconut milk and cold-pressed coconut oil were displayed with discounted prices. A variety of tea and tea-based herbal infusions with turmeric, chamomile and other herbs from signature plantations around Sri Lanka, were also marketed at the event.

The event aims to bring alive the unique culinary heritage of Sri Lanka, which is a blend of many colonial influences — British, Dutch and Portuguese as well as pan-Asian with Indian (especially South Indian) influences. Many of the invitees were highly impressed of the authentic Sri Lankan cuisine showcased at the inaugural ceremony.

Another main attraction of this mega event was the “Sri Lanka Handloom and Batik Saree Fest”. The promotion of Sri Lankan Handloom and Batik Sarees was a result of discussions held by the State Minister of Regional Cooperation during his visit to Qatar in October 2021 and by Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Qatar Mafaz Mohideen with the Lulu Group. The stall consisted of a number of Sri Lankan handloom and batik sarees along with eco-friendly handicrafts. The initiative was aimed at facilitating local handloom and batik producers to access untapped overseas markets whilst augmenting the export basket.

The Embassy facilitated Sri Lanka’s participation at this event as a way forward in bolstering trade, tourism and cultural promotion in the State of Qatar.

The Government has decided to waive off the annual registration fee of all tourist establishments and individuals listed under the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) for this year, extending

Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga said the number of registered accommodation providers has increased by 39%, while the registration in the service providing entities have increased by 26% compared to 2019.

Pointing out that the Government had to face many difficulties in granting relief provided to the stakeholders as many were not registered with SLTDA, he said steps have been taken to expedite the registration of tourism establishments and service providers this year.

As of 30 June 2021, the total establishments registered with  SLTDA was at 5,821, comprising 3,686 accommodation sector entities and 2,135 in the service sector. 

The Minister said that the authorities have been instructed to expedite the registration of tourist hotels, service providers, guides and drivers. 

According to the Tourism Act, all tourist establishments and individuals engaged in the sector are required to register with the SLTDA, but many of them are still not adhering to the law.

In this backdrop, the SLTDA has made it mandatory to allow only licensed tour guides for services.

The SLTDA has informed all tour operators that it will take legal action against companies that assign unregistered and unlicensed tour guides to international travellers. Investigations are being carried out by the Tourist Police.

In August 2021, Sri Lanka Tourism launched a drive to register informal sector operators with the help of iconic cricketer Kumar Sangakkara.

The key objective of the initiative was to absorb the informal sector tourism services and establishments to the SLTDA registration process. 

A unique video featuring Sangakkara with a core message: “Come, together let’s rebuild the industry we all love!.”

Currently, around 5,000 tour guides are registered with the SLTDA and of that 1,680 are national guides, 1,388 driving guides, 1,667 regional guides and 98 local guides. All the guides have obtained the relevant licenses after formal training.

Meanwhile, the first week of February received 22,412 tourists, pushing the cumulative figure to 104,739. Arrivals were led by Russian travellers, followed by India and the UK.

Sri Lanka Tourism is now in the process of a new resurgence attracting tourists from countries which were under the former Soviet Union creating novel trends in the region, official sources said.

Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, it declared independence as the Republic of Uzbekistan on 31 August 1991. 

Uzbekistan is a secular state, with a presidential constitutional government in place. Uzbekistan comprises 12 regions (vilayats), Tashkent City and one autonomous republic, Karakalpakstan

Travellers from Uzbekistan are visiting Sri Lanka in large numbers with the new trend promoting the tourists from Europe to look into Sri Lanka as an attractive tourist destination.      

Aitken Spence Travels, the leading DMC in Sri Lanka welcomed the country’s first charter flight from Uzbekistanon Wednesday 09. There will be a weekly flight operating every Wednesday until the end of March. 

This charter airline operation will be partnered with a leading tour operator of Uzbekistan and generate approximately 1,200 guests to Sri Lanka.

All charter flights of Uzbekistan Airways will land at the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA), Mattala from where all passengers would depart on their tours. 

A special welcome has been arranged at the Mattala airport, as this is the first international flight from this source market. 

Further, necessary arrangements have been made to welcome all Uzbekistani visitors, in accordance with the Ministry of Health’s and the Tourism Authority’s health and safety guidelines and rules.

Aitken Spence Travels Managing Director Nalin Jayasundera said: “He is delighted to welcome visitors from Uzbekistan to Sri Lanka. This is a new market for us and for Sri Lanka as well. 

While the world is still fighting the COVID 19 pandemic, we managed to break into this new source market after conducting a marketing campaign, making presentations, and organising promotions among a large group of agents in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, which is a landlocked country in Central Asia.” 

“It’s a historical country linked to the Silk Road. Our efforts were rewarded when we won the confidence of the Uzbekistan agents as they saw Sri Lanka as a safe and secure travel destination to be explored and enjoyed by their holiday makers. 

“We are happy to support the stakeholders of the tourism industry and contribute to the Sri Lankan economy at this critical moment as this step will lead to the road to recovery of tourism in Sri Lanka as a whole,” he added.

Aitken Spence said travellers from Uzbekistan are particularly interested in visiting Sri Lanka because of the country’s rich heritage as well as basking in the sun kissed golden sandy beaches.

 In addition, the Uzbekistani accommodation options range from four to five-star properties. Hence, Uzbekistani tourists can be classified as high-value tourists. 

More of these types of new source markets need to be identified and explored by Sri Lanka, as it would assist in reviving the industry’s much needed tourism related jobs and contribute to the country’s economic stabilisation through foreign income.

Aitken Spence Travels will also open its brand-new travel counter at the Mattala airport in pursuit of welcoming visitors who land in Mattala.

 The counter will have facilities to book tours, private transfers, and accommodation options as well.

Plans are underway to promote Sri Lanka as a safe wedding destination, which would not only help uplift the hard-hit tourism industry but also the event management, fashion design and other supporting sectors that were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, tourism ministry sources said.

In addition to focusing on the high-potential MICE market, Sri Lanka Tourism will provide fresh impetus for ‘wedding tourism’ as well.

A separate portal will be launched by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) to support the endeavour.

SLTDA official said efforts would be taken to list event management companies, wedding planners, photographers, fashion designers and others under one platform, so that the experience of having a wedding in Sri Lanka can be convenient.“

Sri Lanka has immense potential in the wedding segment and sites such as those in the vicinity of the Sinharaja forest and Cultural Triangle can be promoted, ministry officials said.

While Sri Lanka needs to firm up relationships with regional peers such as India, the Maldives and Pakistan to promote wedding tourism, they  said adding that  Sri Lanka has already made a name for itself as a wedding destination in many markets, including Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

Future Market Insights, a premium market intelligence provider, in its latest update shared that with the increasing access to affordable travel options and a large number of scenic locations, destination weddings have rapidly gained popularity.

A market analysis shows that the destination wedding market will generate revenue over US $ 290 billion by 2031.