The first ever ‘Colombo International Shopping Festival’ will kick start on October 1, a move that is aimed at helping towards making Sri Lanka a ‘Retail Hub’.
The festival an initiative of the Sri Lanka Retailers’ Association (SLRA) of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, under the patronage of the Ministry of Tourism Development and Christian Religious Affairs and in collaboration with the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau will be held from 1st of October to end November 2017 culminating with a Shopping weekend. A Joint National and global promotion is underway between the Sri Lanka Retailers’ Association (SLRA) and the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) to launch the first ever Shopping festival in Sri Lanka. The Global Advertising campaign will be initiated along with the Sri Lankan Airlines, Sri Lanka Export Development Board (SLEDB), Sri Lanka Tea Board, The Hotels Association of Sri Lanka (THASL), The Travel Agents Association of Sri Lanka (TAASL), Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators (SLAITO).
The festival (CISF) initially will inter-alia focus on Tourist segments from India, Pakistan, Maldives and Bangladesh with an Advertising campaign launched in those countries by Sri Lanka Tourism.
SLRA aims to make the ‘Colombo International Shopping Festival’ an annual event similar to those in Dubai, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore. The Government of Sri Lanka allocated funding in the National Budget 2017 to organize the Shopping Festival; based on the representations made by SLRA.
The Sri Lanka Retailers’ Association (SLRA) with a strong membership of leading organized Retailers and over 2000 retail outlets will offer value bargains /discounts during the Shopping Festival season, in island-wide outlets in collaboration with credit card companies; MasterCard, Visa and AMEX along with Banks and other financial institutions.
SLRA invites All Retailers including non-member retailers and other parties to join this pioneering national endeavor to launch the first ever Sri Lankan Shopping festival.