Sri Lanka Tourism has embarked on a promotional roadshow in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, as part of an ongoing effort to boost the number of tourists visiting the island from the GCC.

A delegation of Sri Lanka Tourism officials as well as Sri Lanka’s leading hotels and tourism stakeholders gathered at the Radisson Blu hotel on February 26 to meet with Jeddah's leading travel and tourism companies.

A total of 14 industry partners from Sri Lanka-based aviation, tourism and hospitality entities joined the roadshow to promote the country’s unique hospitality services and attractions including; Movenpick Hotel Colombo, Centauria Travels, Asian Adventures, Holiday Park, Walkers Tours, Exotic Global Holiday, Lanka Holidays.net and Figco Lanka Holidays, among others. As part of the promotional activities, Jeddah-based travel agents and tourism professionals were provided the latest information and updates on Sri Lanka’s touristic offerings through presentations, workshops and a series of business development meetings.
  
Madubhani Perera, director of marketing, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, said: "Sri Lanka is one of the preferred destinations for Gulf tourists as we offer a distinctive, adventure-packed, eco-friendly and family-focused experience and offering. With our rich nature, heritage and culture, year-round schedule of festivals and special events, numerous parks and eco centers and luxury resorts and wellness centres, Sri Lanka has many reasons for Saudi Arabian families to return to the island again and again.”

During 2017, Sri Lanka received a total of 35,481 tourists from Saudi Arabia. The island aims to double these numbers and achieve 20 per cet increase from Saudi Arabia by the end of 2018.

Saudi Arabia makes up the largest number of GCC tourists to Sri Lanka, followed by Oman and UAE as second and third largest number of GCC tourists to the island.

Perera further added: "Saudi Arabia is one of the most important market segments in our region and remains an integral target market for Sri Lanka’s tourism development. This roadshow is one of many major activities Sri Lanka tourism conducts to ensure that key international travel agents maintain a close awareness and link with Sri Lanka’s tourism industry partners, in order to mutually expand the business opportunities between both, while offering their clients quality tourism experiences. Through such a mission to three key cities in Saudi Arabia, our expectations are that travel to Sri Lanka from Saudi Arabia will continue to grow and thrive, reinforcing Sri Lanka’s status as a world-class destination for eco-tourism, cultural and family tourism.”   

The Sri Lanka Tourism roadshow delegates will continue its promotional activities in Jeddah as they participate in Jeddah International Travel and Tourism Exhibition from February 28 to March 2. - TradeArabia News Service