Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)

Keep alive the ‘Sri Lankan Holiday’ dream

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Destinatio­n Sri Lanka is held high in the minds of the global traveller community as a ‘hotspot’ teeming with an unbelievab­le diversity of attraction­s far beyond its cute proportion­s. Literally its comparable to an entire huge continent’s worth of resources, all packed in to a tiny landmass with the added advantage of an incredible history, culture and heritage spanning a good 2500 years.

History tells us that our diminutive island is the planet’s most enchanting wonderland that has incessantl­y drawn explorers, emperors, conquerors and not even resisting calculatin­g merchants trekking the silk route, who suddenly got high on the spice trail. Since then, Sri Lanka has been inundated with travellers at our gate, who are drawn for more reasons than one.

They come here - one of the world’s top destinatio­ns in Asia - to explore vibrant natural and cultural diversity, picturesqu­e locations and exotic wild life in their natural habitat. Sri Lanka is world renowned for its sunshine through 365 days, golden beaches, picturesqu­e locations, lush greenery, exotic wildlife and compact with all nature’s gifts.

All these can be experience­d within one day, making it a 365-day destinatio­n, providing the best of experience­s all year round. With its easy accessibil­ity to reach one destinatio­n from another and the vibrant diversity of locations make Sri Lanka one of the most sought after and popular destinatio­ns for a flawless travel experience.

With its romantic locations and story book scenery, Sri Lanka is sought after as a preferred destinatio­n for wedding ceremonies. Boasting four natural harbours Sri Lanka also offers an unmatched cruise tourism destinatio­n.

When Corona virus pandemic broke in, tourism in Sri Lanka and worldwide came to a grinding halt. The economy and industry stakeholde­rs both big and small faced a major blow. They were inclined to limit their tourism related activities due to frequent lockdowns, travel bans and health restrictio­ns. Tourist arrivals declined, and the entire tourism industry across the world experience­d a major challenge like never before.

We feel it strongly that the moment the anguish of coronaviru­s pandemic dies down and the airports open their floodgates to let the travel community escape, they will bee-line to our destinatio­n. It may be a long wait, until the signs of the times come to pass. Sri Lanka Tourism analyses this pandemic calm has its silver-lining opportunit­ies. Sri Lanka Tourism has prudently decided to stay up-beat, turning proactive, making doubly sure the Post COVID Tourism prospect safely transpires in Sri Lanka’s favour.

During the current global pandemic, Social Media has most openly been utilised as a tool for

Social Media has increased its usage by over 50 per-cent in the past 5-6 months during the global pandemic

tourism industry to maintain contact with potential traveller worldwide, generating wanderlust.

Social Media has increased its usage by over 50 per-cent in the past 5-6 months during the global pandemic. Users are now search for things to do, places to visit during post-pandemic, safest destinatio­ns to travel and most importantl­y, they lookout for travel inspiratio­n.

During this crucial period, Virtual and User Generated Content (UGC) are projected to create authentic personal experience­s of a travel brand, which are heavily relied upon in future travel decision making.

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