Sri Lanka Tourism rebrands in Brussels

The Sri Lanka Embassy in Brussels, on behalf of the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, together with SriLankan Airlines launched the new brand of Sri Lanka Tourism, Sri Lanka Small Miracle in the Belgian market last week.

The objective of re-branding was to create a core idea that can change the traveller's perception of the country, encapsulating its diversity, authenticity, compactness and its geographical location identifying Sri Lanka from its competitors. The launch coincides with Sri Lanka moving into a post- LTTE period.

Speaking at the launch, Sri Laka's Ambassador to Belgium and the EU, Ravinatha Aryasinha stated that Sri Lankas tourism industry had not been able to reach its full potential, despite demonstrating resilience during the past 2 decades due to the debilitating effects of the LTTE. In the current scenario, the rebranding would encourage the traveller to look at Sri Lanka with new eyes and enable the country to position itself as a destination second to none.

The new brand, along with its tagline, logo, concepts and media strategy was presented to the leading tour operators in Belgium by the Saroja Sirisena, Counsellor of the Embassy. The infrastructure projects in the Eastern Coast, Kalpitiya and Deduwa were also presented. Tourism generating activities around the traditional festivals of Sri Lanka such as the Kandy Perahera and other international events such as the Galle Literary Festival and the Colombo Fashion week were highlighted. Danny Schepers, Director General of SriLankan Airlines in France/BENELUX presented its promotional activities targeting the European traveller in general and the Belgian traveller in particular. The buy one get one free deal for travel out of Europe to Sri Lanka was also promoted. Senarath Dissanayake, First Secretary of the Embassy was also associated with this event.

Tour operators highlighted the challenges faced in promoting Sri Lanka as a travel destination due to the security situation and travel advisories put forth by Governments. They also emphasised the need to carry out promotional activities targeting the traveller in order to rebuild the demand for Sri Lanka.

Leading representatives of the print and electronic media and the travel trade participated in the event.

The launch was followed by a dinner at the Sri Lanka Sea Food festival organised by the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Belgium at the Radisson hotel in collaboration with SriLankan Airlines, the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, Mount Lavinia Hotel Sri Lanka, the Export Development Board, Andrews Travel, Best Tours and Sri Lanka Sea Food Exporters.

Sri Lanka Embassy
Brussels
5 May 2009

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