The Vakantiebeurs Travel Fair in Utrecht, Netherlands last week, is considered a meeting place for travel agencies, cultural associations and governments represented by Promotion Bureaus from all over the world.
Thirteen local industry representatives led by the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) took part in the fair.
They included representatives of Atiken Spence, Whittalls Travels, Eco Team, Youlanka Travels, Hawk Travels, Sunway Holidays, Camlo Lanka Tours, Hotel Lanka Supercorals, Ayubowan Tours, Zenith Expeditions, Oak Ray Restaurants, Blue Lanka Tours and Andrew the Travel Company.
The Sri Lanka pavilion was opened by the Ambassador for Sri Lanka in the Netherlands, A. M. J. Sadiq.
A touch of glamour was added to the ceremony by a Sri Lankan traditional dance troupe which performed at the event, to showcase Sri Lanka’s rich culture and diversity.
B2B sessions were also held among the travel industry partners.
This fair is considered to be the largest travel and tourism fair for the Dutch market.
The Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) has participated in this fair for over a decade and the increase in the number of tourist arrivals from the Netherlands is partly attributed to the destination promotion campaign which takes place at events such as the Vakantiebeurs Travel Fair.
This was the 49th edition of the fair, since its inception in 1970.
Last year, Vakantiebeurs attracted over 1,100 exhibitors and 105,369 visitors of whom 14,575 were trade professionals.
The 2017 edition of the Vakantiebeurs attracted 108,779 holiday lovers to the largest travel event in the Netherlands. Eighty percent of the visitors rated the offer of participating travel organisations as “very good”.
Netherlands, being one of the top ten sources markets for Sri Lanka has seen a steady growth of arrivals in recent years.
Last year, the numbers totalled 57,000 by December 2018.
The Dutch traveller’s average duration of stay is 9.9 nights (SLTDA Annual Report - 2016) while average expenditure (without airfare) per tourist per day is (non-package) USD 147.39 and (package) USD 207.43 (Survey of Departing Foreign Tourists from Sri Lanka – 2016). As at July, 2018, Sri Lanka has recorded a cumulative growth of 11.3% of arrivals from The Netherlands.
Visitors at the Sri Lanka pavilion