By Madhusha Thavapalakumar
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Greece’s new post-covid-19 tourism campaign that was unveiled earlier this month named 'Greek Summer is a state of mind'.[/caption]
The Government is currently evaluating tenders it received for the planned global tourism promotional campaign with plans of launching a post-pandemic campaign within the next three months.
Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation Secretary S. Hettiarachchi told The Sunday Morning Business that the Technical Evaluation Committee (TEC) is currently reviewing the bids, after which it will be submitted to the Cabinet-appointed Procurement Committee.
“Once the Technical Evaluation Committee (TEC) submits their recommendation to the Procurement Committee, a final decision will be taken by them. After that, the decision along with the necessary documents will be sent to the Cabinet for their approval,” Hettiarachchi stated.
He said that Cabinet approval is expected by next month if all goes according to plan.
The industry has been awaiting a global tourism promotional campaign for five to seven years under two governments, but has undergone several delays, particularly following the Easter Sunday attacks and more recently, the coronavirus outbreak. The campaign which came closest to being launched was set to be conducted for a period of five years, and was aimed to bring in six million tourists by 2025.
However, Hettiarachchi stated that this campaign will be unlike any previous campaigns planned or conducted by the Ministry and the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA), due to the unprecedented nature of Covid-19 and its impact on international tourism and the global economy. The targeted tourist arrivals through this campaign and the cost are yet to be disclosed by the Ministry.
Several European countries that depend on tourism earnings for a considerable percentage of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) have already launched tourism campaigns. Greece, one amongst such countries, launched the “Restart Tourism” campaign, as its borders will be opened for tourists from 15 June.
Sri Lanka’s tourism sector, one amongst the top three foreign exchange-earning sources of the country, came to a complete deadlock following the local spread of Covid-19 and a resultant closure of the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) for tourists.
Even before the closure of the airport, Sri Lanka was struggling to attract tourists, mainly due to stringent travel restrictions imposed in China in the early weeks of this year to mitigate the spread of the virus. China is one amongst the top five tourism-generating markets of Sri Lanka.
However, now with the easing down of travel restrictions both globally and locally, the sector is preparing to be back in business and the Government has unveiled a plan to restart international tourism from 1 August onwards.
As the free visa on arrival programme reached expiry early this year, the Government has imposed a flat visa fee of $ 100; this is mainly to discourage backpackers coming in groups, according to sources.
Further, to encourage more tourists into the country, several hotels have adopted a free cancellation policy which facilitates tourists to cancel their bookings without having to pay penalties, even on the day of the arrival.
Tourism arrivals were gradually recovering after the Easter attacks and the reported arrivals into the country stood at 1.9 million in 2019, compared to 2.3 million in 2018. This year, January arrivals were 228,434, a year-on-year drop of 6.5%, while February arrivals were 207,507, a year-on-year drop of 17.7%. March arrivals dropped to 71,370 compared to the 244,328 arrivals during the same period last year.
Greece’s new post-covid-19 tourism campaign that was unveiled earlier this month named 'Greek Summer is a state of mind'.[/caption]
The Government is currently evaluating tenders it received for the planned global tourism promotional campaign with plans of launching a post-pandemic campaign within the next three months.
Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation Secretary S. Hettiarachchi told The Sunday Morning Business that the Technical Evaluation Committee (TEC) is currently reviewing the bids, after which it will be submitted to the Cabinet-appointed Procurement Committee.
“Once the Technical Evaluation Committee (TEC) submits their recommendation to the Procurement Committee, a final decision will be taken by them. After that, the decision along with the necessary documents will be sent to the Cabinet for their approval,” Hettiarachchi stated.
He said that Cabinet approval is expected by next month if all goes according to plan.
The industry has been awaiting a global tourism promotional campaign for five to seven years under two governments, but has undergone several delays, particularly following the Easter Sunday attacks and more recently, the coronavirus outbreak. The campaign which came closest to being launched was set to be conducted for a period of five years, and was aimed to bring in six million tourists by 2025.
However, Hettiarachchi stated that this campaign will be unlike any previous campaigns planned or conducted by the Ministry and the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA), due to the unprecedented nature of Covid-19 and its impact on international tourism and the global economy. The targeted tourist arrivals through this campaign and the cost are yet to be disclosed by the Ministry.
Several European countries that depend on tourism earnings for a considerable percentage of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) have already launched tourism campaigns. Greece, one amongst such countries, launched the “Restart Tourism” campaign, as its borders will be opened for tourists from 15 June.
Sri Lanka’s tourism sector, one amongst the top three foreign exchange-earning sources of the country, came to a complete deadlock following the local spread of Covid-19 and a resultant closure of the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) for tourists.
Even before the closure of the airport, Sri Lanka was struggling to attract tourists, mainly due to stringent travel restrictions imposed in China in the early weeks of this year to mitigate the spread of the virus. China is one amongst the top five tourism-generating markets of Sri Lanka.
However, now with the easing down of travel restrictions both globally and locally, the sector is preparing to be back in business and the Government has unveiled a plan to restart international tourism from 1 August onwards.
As the free visa on arrival programme reached expiry early this year, the Government has imposed a flat visa fee of $ 100; this is mainly to discourage backpackers coming in groups, according to sources.
Further, to encourage more tourists into the country, several hotels have adopted a free cancellation policy which facilitates tourists to cancel their bookings without having to pay penalties, even on the day of the arrival.
Tourism arrivals were gradually recovering after the Easter attacks and the reported arrivals into the country stood at 1.9 million in 2019, compared to 2.3 million in 2018. This year, January arrivals were 228,434, a year-on-year drop of 6.5%, while February arrivals were 207,507, a year-on-year drop of 17.7%. March arrivals dropped to 71,370 compared to the 244,328 arrivals during the same period last year.