OTDYKH Leisure Travel and Tourism Fair, one of the largest travel fairs in Moscow, Russia and draws a large number of visitors, was held at the Expocentre, for the 25th time, recently, with the participation of over 20 countries.
As a major travel and tourism fair in the Russian continent, OTDYKH enables exhibitors to increase awareness of their destination and also to gain a real feel for the Russian travel market.
Officials of the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau attended this year’s Leisure 2019 with 12 travel industry participants representing hotels and travel companies.
This Sri Lanka stand was opened by Counsellor Mohamed Anas on behalf of Sri Lanka Ambassador to Russia,Dr. Dayan Jayathilaka..
Counsellor Anas stressed the importance of promoting Sri Lanka as a destination for the Russian market which has a huge potential. He appreciated the interest from the travel trade to promote the Russian market specially in wellness tourism, culture, wildlife and luxury products.
The Sri Lanka Travel trade was represented by the travel companies, such as Aitken Spence Travel, Deluxe Holiday, Nkar Travel & Tours, Tangerine Tours, Ceylon My Dream, Exotic Holidays, Concord Exotic Voyages Company and hotels, such as Citrus Leisure, Lanka Super Coral, Cinnamon Hotels, Taj Bentota Resort & Spa and The Long Beach Resort.
Assistant Director handling Russia and CIS markets, Ms. Sasika Jayaweera represented the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB ) and Second Secretary of Sri Lanka Embassy in Moscow, Ms. Chathurika Perera who supported this travel fair from the Sri Lanka Mission in Russia were present at the opening ceremony.
The president and few members of the Tourism Safety Association in Russia were also present on the occasion.
A round tour table meeting with the media and popular tour operators in Russia was held to outline the safety of Russian travellers in Sri Lanka after the April attack.
Media personnel pointed out even though Sri Lanka has taken some steps to improve the security of travellers, enough publicity has not been given regarding this information overseas and this info has not reached Russians interested in flying to Sri Lanka for a vacation.
Russian tour operators and online media said that it is important to publish that information in an online platform where most of the tourists refer to before they select their travel destination.
Sri Lanka won an award for participation among the 28 countries that took part in this travel fair.