Sri Lanka Welcomes the 950,000Th Tourist to the Island
Sri Lanka welcomes the 950,000th tourist to the island Heralding the news of a prosperous future for Sri Lanka Tourism, the 950,000th tourist was warmly welcomed by a group including His Excellency Udayanga Weerathunga, the Sri Lankan Ambassador to Russia, Mr. Rumy Jauffer, the Managing Director of SLTPB, Mr.S. Shanthi Kumar, Vice President of Sri Lanka Tourist Hoteliers Association and Mr.Mervi Fernandopulle, Past President of Association of Small and Medium Enterprises at Bandaranaike International Airport on December 18 at a special ceremony. Mr. Krzysztof Kujawa and Ms. Agata Dziekn were given special gifts for being the lucky couple from Poland to pass the milestone, so that their next stay in Sri Lanka will be absolutely free. This is the first time ever that a number of 950,000 tourists, the target of Sri Lanka Tourism for the year 2012, arrived in Sri Lanka. In the month of November,2012 the total number of tourist arrival figure was 109,202; the highest number of tourists ever turned up within a single month in the Sri Lanka Tourism History. It indicates a 20% growth compared to the previous year. Having identified Russia, Eastern Europe Countries, Japan, China, Korea and India as emerging markets the SLTPB executed a new series of promotional activities incorporating the new strategies of the government. This campaign included travel fairs, roadshows, major advertising campaigns and social media promotions. The said campaign resulted in a greater contribution from the aforesaid countries. Also, today the involvement of a number of small and medium enterprises in the tourism industry has helped earn a lot of foreign exchange.
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