22 REGION ASIA Packing
22 REGION ASIA Packing More Holidays into One’s Holidays Sri Lanka offers ‘more value for travel dollar’ at ITB Berlin It’s a country whose history spans three millennia. The “pearl of the Indian Ocean” is also known as the “nation of smiling people” for good reason. H.E. Sarrath Kongahage, Sri Lanka’s ambassador to Germany, speaks to ITB Berlin News about new developments, including the success of the new Electronic Travel Authorisation, or ETA. Most emerging markets and even traditional markets have become accustomed to the ETA system. Our idea was to facilitate the task of people applying for a visa so that rather than coming physically to the consulate from the other end of the country, it would be more practical for them to do this online. Thanks to this system, we have seen a substantial increase in the number of international travellers coming to Sri Lanka. What are the main trends in inbound tourism? The most important thing here was of course the end of the civil war that had been going on for thirty BIGGEST TOURISM FORUM EVER Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau recently held the biggest international tourism forum ever to be conducted in the country in parallel to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Summit in the Island with 150 travel and tour operators and 40 journalists from 14 countries taking part in the event, which was held in Battaramulla. The visiting travel and tour operators apart from attending the forum also held B2B meetings with over 160 local leisure sector operators. years. We now have a target plan that forecasts inbound tourism growing constantly through 2016 to 2.5 million. For this, we have to upgrade our hotels and add more rooms. We have around ten thousand rooms at the moment, and our target for 2016 is for thirty thousand rooms. So a lot of chains are now coming into Sri Lanka to build new properties. This said, we have a very strict environmental plan and we are strongly encouraging eco-friendly hotels. This programme is called “greening Sri Lanka hotels”, and ensures efficient waste management, water and energy consumption, and the minimisation of their CO2 footprint. How is MICE developing as a driver for tourism in Sri Lanka? We just concluded one of the most important summits of world leaders - the Commonwealth Heads of Government -- or CHOGM -- meeting in Colombo. 53 governments were Polonnaruwa Vattadage, Sri Lanka WE HAVE AROUND TEN THOUSAND ROOMS AT THE MOMENT, AND OUR TARGET FOR 2016 IS FOR THIRTY THOUSAND ROOMS. represented for the summit with large number of Heads of State and Prince Charles representing Queen Elizabeth. In conjunction with this we had a business forum just before the summit, meaning we had around four thousand very high-level visitors including 800 media representatives in the city at one time, and all went without a hitch. We have new convention centres inside and outside Colombo, making the destination very attractive for MICE. What is your key message to travel agents and tour operators at ITB Berlin? The message of the tourism board is clear - in three words - “best value destination”, and the shortest way to sightseeing, because in a week, a visitor can see eight world heritage sites and seven different climate zones. You can have the culture, the nature and the wildlife, sports, beaches, adventure, festivals, traditions, shopping, healing, peace, accessibility and facilities. Until 2012, Sri Lanka was somewhat H.E. Sarrath Kongahage Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Germany restricted to international hotel developers, but today, major hotel chains such as Marriott, Hilton, Sheraton, Shangri La, Best Western, Movenpick, Hyatt and Centara, are being welcomed, and are putting in major efforts to develop infrastructure. Our road and rail infrastructures are developing at a great pace as well. We are looking to attract more and more high-end customers, as well as those looking for authentic experiences as the best eco-friendly hotels are being built in Sri Lanka. Hall 5.2A Stand 114 ITB BERLIN NEWS • Thursday 6 th March 2014 www.itb-berlin-news.com
ASIA REGION 23 Quality Accreditation and Industry Training at Heart of Macau Push The MGTO announces a five-point plan to boost tourism in the booming Asian destination Last year’s total visitor arrivals in Macau exceeded 29 million, marking an increase of 4% year on year. A statement from the Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) says the organisation will this year pursue five main working goals. MGTO Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes says her organisation will continue to promote the “tourism development mode”, which revolves around leisure tourism, in line with the goal of building Macau into a World Centre of Tourism and Leisure, and that the five concrete goals as as follows: • Launch tourism planning and research, optimize overall tourism environment; • Strengthen industry training and management, enhance tourism service quality; • Continue community tourism, develop diverse tourism products; • Initiate series of promotional events, build up the destination’s tourism image with characteristics; • Participate in international and regional cooperation, strengthen social and media communication. Senna Fernandes explained that the office is to launch a “Quality Tourism Services Accreditation Scheme” this year in order to ensure quality service in the tourism industry and encourage the trade to keep optimising their service. Restaurants which pass the jury assessment successfully will be given a certificate and the Star Merchant Award in recognition of their outstanding service. In addition, MGTO plans to feature 3D audiovisual projection mapping shows in Cheng Peng Theatre and St. Lazarus Parish. Currently the Office is preparing to seek advice from the public. At the same time, new promotional activities and prize-winning tours are being added to the “Step Out, Experience Macau’s Communities” project to encourage visitors to explore the routes and enhance public awareness of the project. NEW PROMOTIONAL ACTIVITIES AND PRIZE-WINNING TOURS ARE BEING ADDED TO THE “STEP OUT, EXPERIENCE MACAU’S COMMUNITIES” PROJECT Hall 26 A Stand 108 ITB BERLIN NEWS • Thursday 6 th March 2014
