Thai Tourism Authority chief to visit Sri Lanka
The governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand accompanied by a group of outbound travel agents and journalists is to visit Sri Lanka shortly.
The visit is to express solidarity with Sri Lanka and help revive the country’s tourism industry.
Thailand’s tourism chief Yuthasak Supasorn and delegation will visit Sri Lanka from June 27 to 29, following an invitation extended by Tourism Development, Wildlife and Christian Religious Affairs Minister John Amaratunga during an official visit to the country last week.
A memorandum of understanding is to be signed between the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau and Tourism Authority of Thailand to promote bilateral tourism during the governor’s visit to the island.
Meanwhile, Deputy Sangarajah of Thailand Somdej Phra Dheerayanamuni will visit Sri Lanka along with a group of 50 monks and 150 laymen from June 28 to July 1, 2019, accepting an invitation extended by Amaratunga.
The minister met Deputy Sangarajah and two other high-profile monks, Phra Thammasuthi and Phra Bhawana Khemakhun, during his visit to Thailand, where he declared open the Sri Lanka Pavilion at the THAIFEX World of Food Asia 2019 exhibition, which was held at the IMPACT Exhibition and Convention Centre in Bangkok.
Sri Lanka’s participation at the exhibition was mainly focused on promoting inbound travel to Sri Lanka and Sri Lankan cuisine. Eight travel agents and 20 exporters of the SME sector occupied the Sri Lanka pavilion. The Sri Lankan food display and tasting was a big attraction at the event.
The Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau used the opportunity to launch a microsite on its main web page to promote culinary tourism in Sri Lanka. The launch was held at a media conference at the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Bangkok.
Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Thailand Kshenuka Senewiratne and Amaratunga addressed the media during the conference.
The minister thanked the Royal Government of Thailand for not imposing any travel restrictions after the Easter Sunday attacks and noted that the first group of tourists to arrive in Sri Lanka after the tragic events was a Thai pilgrim group.