Time to tell the world Sri Lanka’s the best

We should effectively communicate these endorsements as and when they are announced in a bid to impress upon its significance; since this is the kind of branding Sri Lanka needs to improve her global position as against other top destinations

It was just the other day that I was asked about how recent endorsements Sri Lanka has been bagging has created a talking point among most people. Thinking about it I noticed that a trend has picked up for Sri Lanka to become one of the most endorsed travel destinations which I believe we need to avail ourselves of to our advantage to generate more interest among travellers to visit this paradise island.

At present it is evident we are not reaping the full benefit of these commendations and the concern here is whether we are marketing ourselves enough by taking full credit for what have received so far from around the world.

Sri Lanka is becoming a destination that is getting endorsed not only on travel sites like the Lonely Planet, but also the New York Times, the National Geographic Channel and Huawei research that has found Colombo to be the must-photograph city in 2019 among others. This has created a push towards tapping more visitors to tour the country; and it calls for tourism authorities to carry out a campaign based on these endorsements that we have received.

Last year alone, there were six countries that generated 55 per cent of Sri Lanka’s tourist arrivals; and about 10 countries generated 70 per cent of our arrivals. This clearly shows that we as a country need to take advantage of these situations and carry out some activities at least in those countries.

With countries like India, China, UK, Germany and Australia generating per country over 100,000 travellers to Sri Lanka it is a clear reflection of the fact that we must boost our presence at least in these markets. India is the highest generating market.

One of the key boosters for the tourism industry in Sri Lanka was to be the global promotion campaign that the industry and the country have been waiting for quite some time to take place. But due to issues beyond us, if the planned global promotion campaign, scheduled to kick off at the ITB travel fair in Berlin, will not be happening in the near future then in the interim period we need some tactical marketing at least in the top 10 markets until we get the major thing off the ground.

Working together

In fact these endorsements could be given a further impetus if the Sri Lanka Tourism authorities work together with the industry on an urgent basis to carry out joint marketing campaigns together with the tour operators.

This is a way of ensuring more recognition among international tour operators when the right endorsement from the state tourism body is evident especially at promotional campaigns by tour operators. This is because wherever we go the role played by tour operators is still significant.

In a bid to do this we must set out criteria which is fair for all DMCs and tour operators irrespective of their size. Tour operators have the resources and the knowledge about the market and the reach to turn the interest in a destination into a real business that would benefit Sri Lanka and its stakeholders.

We should effectively communicate these endorsements as and when they are announced in a bid to impress upon its significance; since this is the kind of branding Sri Lanka needs to improve her global position as against other top destinations.

An endorsement from an independent travel site like the Lonely Planet is the kind of branding that would sell the country’s image on the global platform. It is set to attract more travellers to visit the destination based on these ratings.

So as I said earlier a trend has actually picked up for Sri Lanka to become increasingly endorsed and one of the reasons for this I believe could be that more travelers like the large number of bloggers that frequent the destination have found us. So, Sri Lanka is today getting spotlighted more!

These endorsements are commendations we focus on in our company’s marketing activities taking advantage of the publicity that Sri Lanka has received from the growing base of independent and globally accepted organisations that continue to stamp the nation.

In fact today videos on these endorsements are being shared with family and friends more so because more Sri Lankans are overcome with a feel-good attitude because of all the publicity we receive in reaching the top rankings as the best destination of the world.

As much as it is a good talking point it is high time we also tell the rest of the world out there that Sri Lanka is the happening place right now on the planet to holiday in and the best place to visit this year backed up with a stamp from these organisations.

Getting left out

What is of concern is that Sri Lanka might just get left out if the other destinations currently gaining in popularity may overtake us like Cambodia, Vietnam and Myanmar just to name a few in the Asian region itself.

These endorsements are just the kind of thing that showcases how others perceive us and is the best way for us to market our destination with the backing of reputed brands that have catapulted Sri Lanka to the number one position in the world. It just goes to show what others are saying about us and not just us telling the travellers why they need to come here.

Most travelers look at about two to three destinations when planning their next holiday and one of the factors that can tilt the scale would be the commendations that the destination receives from independent sources and clients.

In attracting the right travellers to visit our island, as stakeholders in the tourism industry, we need to all work together to realise Sri Lanka’s full potential by revealing to our visitors the best we can offer.

And one of the key aspects of marketing our island would be to tell the world Sri Lanka is a relatively very safe country right now and in making your choice to holiday here would mean guaranteeing your security.

So if Colombo is the “must photograph” city to visit; or the Lonely Planet thinks Sri Lanka is one of the best destinations to travel to this year; or the local cuisine in Sri Lanka can outdo all other tastes of the world then we need to bank on these commendations and cash in on them. So Sri Lanka is the best destination for your next holiday!

( The writer is the present Vice President of the Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators (SLAITO) and the Managing Director of Aitken Spence Travels.)