Sri Lanka Tourism impresses Japanese biz community

Parallel to President Mahinda Rajapakse's tour to Japan, a business forum was held on March 15 at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, attended by the Japanese business community and investors.

The chairman of Sri Lanka Tourism, Bhashwara Gunarathna made a presentation promoting Sri Lanka tourism at this forum. The presentation was highly appreciated by the audience and has kindled an interest in Sri Lanka tourism among Japanese businessmen and investors. The reason for this huge success was due to the political, cultural, democratic and all the other bilateral relationships involving Sri Lanka and Japan. Video clips containing remarks of tourists who are currently on holiday in Sri Lanka were also included in the presentation.

In the mean time, the chairman did not forget to refer to the donations and grants offered to the Sri Lankan government by Japan. The television technology to Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation (SLRC), National Youth services Council and Sri Jayawardhanapura Hospital are great examples of Japan's generosity to Sri Lanka. Furthermore, there was special mention of famous Japanese teledramas like Oshin, well loved by Sri Lankan fans. The chairman stated that being able to convince and prove to the Japanese that Sri Lanka is an unmatched tourist destination was greatly advantageous in achieving Japanese tourist targets.