AirAsia X new service spurs more demand for Sri Lanka

Outbound tour operators from Malaysia are predicting stronger meeting and incentive demand for Sri Lanka following AirAsia X's commencement of four-weekly services between Kuala Lumpur and Colombo on September 28, according to a report this week in the TTG Asia e-Daily newspaper.

With AirAsia X's new service, the Kuala Lumpur-Colombo sector now has an additional 1,508 seats weekly. The route is also serviced by Malaysia Airlines' 10-weekly flights and SriLankan Airlines' 14-weekly services.

Grandlotus Travel Agencies managing director, K Thangavelu, said AirAsia X's affordable airfares, as compared to the rates offered by the other full-service carriers serving the route, would make it easier for his company to promote Sri Lanka to meeting and incentive planners. He believes that the lower fares may also encourage companies to send larger groups for business events, which now see an average of 50 delegates in attendance.

Small and medium-sized enterprises with smaller event budgets and seeking medium-haul destinations for incentives will also be attracted by AirAsia X's Colombo services, according to RA Jits Travel & Tours managing director, Harminderjit Singh.

He added that Sri Lanka's supply of "good beachfront hotels and varied attractions from nature activities to shopping and hill resorts" would provide the additional impetus for Malaysian clients to choose the destination.

Besides better air access, business event planners would also benefit from "the slew of five- and four-star hotels that are being constructed in Colombo and other tourist destinations including Negombo, Batticaloa, Trincomalee and Nuwara Eliya over the next few years", opined Johnson Francis, executive director of Oscar Holidays.

The report quoted Adam Kamal, managing director of Tina Travel & Agencies, as saying Sri Lanka's favourable visa policy, which offers visa-free entry to Malaysians who stay less than two nights, provides yet another advantage for his clients who are looking to host brief meetings overseas.

Sri Lanka might emerge a more attractive option than India as a result, as travel visas are required by the latter, Kamal added.