New Delhi: Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) on the invitation from Sri Lankan Tourism Promotion Board (SLTPB) and Sri Lankan Association of Inbound Tour Operators (SLAITO), will be holding its 66th Convention and Exhibition at Colombo, Sri Lanka from April 19 – 22, 2022.
TAAI unveiled its Convention Brochure and Theme Logo for its 66th Convention and Exhibition in New Delhi. The theme of the Convention 'Collaborate to Conquer', will focus to promote and establish travel and tourism between the two nations of Sri Lanka and India.
Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Board being the main sponsor for the 3 day event in Sri Lanka, is looking forward to showcase their products and services to the Indian stakeholder partners, who shall boost bi-lateral Tourism into and from Sri Lanka.
Speaking on the occasion Deputy High Commission of Sri Lanka in India, Niluka Kadurugamuwa said, “India is our largest tourism partner. As global tourism revives despite the resurgent Omicron variant many countries are preparing tourism strategies to get back on the global tourism map. However we are well ahead of the game. In this process we are banking on the diversity, the compact size and the good global connectivity. We are also counting on proximity like key markets of India. The pandemic has affected the tourism industry the most. Sri Lanka is once again gearing up for becoming the favourite destination for international travellers specially from India. The entire population of Sri Lanka has been totally vaccinated with the effort of the government of Sri lanka. There have been no cases of vaccine hesitancy in Sri Lanka. As per data Sri lanka has witnessed 178,000 tourist in the first month of 2022 majority of them being from Russia, India, England, Germany and France. With the ease in global tourism particularly with India, regular scheduled flights from 27 March 2022 & extention of visa on arrival facility we are confident that tourism in SL is on the revival path.”
Congratulating TAAI, ADG Ministry of Tourism, Rupinder Brar said, “The pandemic has encouraged us to reboot, reengineer, reprocess travel. India has announced full opening of flights and visas. Data has shown that India is a hugely favoured nation and while we work with our neighboring countries particularly SL its important that they offer itineries that are far more divergent and comprehensive. And when we start getting long haul tourists from the US, UK, Japan there is a huge potential between SL and us together to creat meaningful itineries and to work very closely on that subject of Buddhist heritage. We look forward from SL to bring a lot of tourist from South East Asia, South Asia and the far East leveraging on our common culture, common heritage, and bringing comprehensive takeaways from tourism point of view.
Brar said, ‘The ministry is running a very robust vaccination campaign having completed 181 crore vaccinations. MoT has entered in an MoU with Alliance Air and between TAAI and neighboring countries. In India we are working on a lot of infrastructure. With Kushinagar international airport getting functional we have a delegation coming from SL with a relic of the lord. From the ministry’s perspective we look forward to working with the Sri Lankan Tourism Board to do campaigns together, collaborate in joint promotional activity, in co creating some content with SL Tourism Board and work out joint itineries cashing in on convergence between SL in terms of dresses, food, Buddhist culture and lot of other things.’
Jyoti Mayal, President TAAI, said, “In the present scenario, there is an immediate need to build on our regional strengths and to explore more opportunities for growth in travel and tourism. Our Convention logo, theme, brochure and the entire program will revolve around building a positive vibe and brainstorming to find ways and means through which the global tourism fraternity is coming together to embrace synergies for a brighter future. Our mission is to build trust and confidence to deal with the challenges that exist in the new normal and move forward with a unified strategy for future sustenance through collaborations.”
Sri Lanka Tourism Chairperson, Kimarli Fernando stated, “India being one of the main source markets for Sri Lanka, TAAI Convention is a great opportunity to promote tourism experiences of Sri Lanka to the Indian market. Key tourism product segments such as culture, and religious tourism, weddings, films will have a great potential in attracting Indian travellers. India has become a vital market for Sri Lanka Tourism in a post pandemic environment with many airlines operating to major tourist generating cities in India. Sri Lanka Tourism believes that the industry stakeholders will take the maximum exposure by engaging with the Indian travel trade during the upcoming TAAI convention.”
The dignitaries and officials from TAAI unveiled the Convention Brochure and Logo in the presence of industry professionals, representatives from Sri Lanka Tourism, SLAITO and Sri Lanka High Commission.
Mr Ravindran Veeraperumal, Regional Manager – India & Bangladesh – SriLankan Airlines, gave a presentation on the airline’s operations and its expansion plans for the future. Its the official airline sponsor for the 66th Convention & Exhibition of TAAI in Colombo this year.
