APOT.Asia Forum in Colombo explores in-flight service enhancement strategies
SriLankan Airlines Director/CEO Rakhita Jayawardena chairs forum
Asia Pacific On-board Travel (APOT. Asia), an organization that brings together aviation and hospitality leaders in the Asia Pacific Region, held its annual forum in Colombo yesterday at the Hilton Colombo, with the participation of over 50 APOT delegates, airline representatives and industry stakeholders.
Minister of Aviation Services, Reginald Cooray was the Chief Guest on the occasion while Chairman, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotions Bureau Rohantha Athukorala delivered t he keynote address of t he conference.
Aimed at collectively innovating and improving service standards of on-board service delivery, thereby increasing the tourist movements in the region, APOT boasts of a member base of more than 750 personnel spread across 56 countries, representing international airlines, airline caterers, i n-flight product and service providers and media organizations.
The previous annual forums of APOT. Asia have been held in Bali, Indonesia, Seoul, South Korea and Danang, Vietnam.
This year, the Forum in Colombo saw the participation of i ndustry delegates representing Indonesia, Australia, India, Malaysia, Japan, United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Germany, USA, Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, France, Vietnam and China.
This year’s forum has a host of interactive sessions focusing on i n-flight service enhancements, airline food, passenger wellbeing and trends in the Europe and USA markets. The line-up also includes a chefs’ competition and a trade show.
SriLankan Airlines, Director/ CEO Rakhita Jayawardena, with his wealth of experience and expertise as a pioneer in in-flight duty retail, has taken over the chairmanship of APOT.Asia.
Commenting on the i mportance of knowledge and experience sharing among the industry leaders, Jayawardena said, “I hope these educational sessions will direct you towards timely service enhancements and value additions to serve your customers better. This is a knowledge sharing platform where many success stories will be related to inspire you. Travel trends are rapidly changing and we need to be aware of the innovative and creative initiatives that will lead the industry in the future.»
APOT.Asia annual forums have also become an ideal platform to address and discuss in detail the challenges faced by the industry and collectively discover strategies to overcome t hem. APOT. Asia is an organization that endorses innovation through which the airlines and aviation service providers can enhance their products and services to suit the modern-day traveller.
Commenting on the support extended by the Sri Lanka Tourism, Jayawardena added, “I take this opportunity to thank Minister of Tourism Navin Dissanayake and Sri Lanka Tourism Promotions Bureau Chairman, Rohantha Athukorala for their wholehearted support to make this event a success. I am certain that their dedication and far-sighted initiatives will continually contribute to the country’s development drive.”
Supported by Sri Lanka Tourism Promotions Bureau and Sri Lanka Tea Board, this year’s Forum will be concluded with a tea gathering coinciding with the launch of a Guinness Record initiative for tea plucking.
Commenting on SriLankan’s role, Jayawardena further said, “SriLankan Airlines, as the country’s national carrier that has been involved in many tourism promotional ventures, is happy to be part of this event. And, we will continue to endorse endeavours of this nature that support the growth of the industry.”