Sri Lanka Tourism showcases its best at German fair | Sunday Observer

Sri Lanka Tourism showcases its best at German fair

3 February, 2019
A dance item at the Sri Lanka pavilion
A dance item at the Sri Lanka pavilion

Sri Lanka showcased the best it has to offer from famed tourist attractions to adventure sports and a whole host of wellness experiences at the Sri Lankan pavilion at the nine-day CMT Consumer Fair in Messe, Stuttgart, Germany recently.

The CMT is where the world meets to discover new experiences and places to visit. It is here that inspirations are churned into ideas that make up many holiday packages. Sri Lanka Tourism headed into the New Year full of optimism given the many accolades and endorsements the country has received this year which put the Island on the international travel map.

The Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) participated in the Fair in collaboration with its Diplomatic Mission in Berlin. The pavilion was opened by Consul of Sri Lanka, Consulate in Stuttgart, Thomas Quack.

Members of Diplomatic Corps, officers of the Tourism Promotion Bureau and CMT organisers were also present.

CMT is one of the biggest travel Fairs in Germany, attracting more than 265,000 seeking for ideas and suggestions for their next holiday. CMT also attracts tour operators and travel agents and around 1,500 travel journalists.

The selfie booth was an eye-catching attraction among the millennials. Visitors had the opportunity to take part in selfie competitions to win exclusive holiday packages to the Island. The booth helped to drive traffic to the SLTPB Social Media platforms. It was a major crowd puller throughout the fair and had many vying for the coveted all expense paid holiday packages.

A cultural dance full of vibrancy and colour kept the visitors enthralled. The stall was adorned with the newly launched brand ‘So Sri Lanka’. The stall also had a variety of branded promotional items, and activities, including a Virtual Reality experience which had not been tried out before. The CEO of CMT also visited the stall to discuss partnering with Sri Lanka for the 2020 edition of the Fair.

SLTPB previously represented Sri Lanka at CMT in 2013 and 2014 along with some of the tourism industry of Sri Lanka. Around 90% of visitors to CMT are end consumers. CMT 2018 recorded 45% of the visitors with an average household income of Euro 3,600 and above. It has been identified by the SLTPB that a large number of prospective long haul travellers live in Stuttgart. Tourist arrivals from Germany showed an increase of 20 percent in 2018 compared to 2017.

In 2018, the number of tourist arrivals from Germany was 156,275, a growth of 20% compared to 130,227 arrivals in 2017. 

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