Sri Lanka displays its prestige at JATA Tourism Expo 2019


Maldives
PUBLISHED November 06, 2019

Sri Lanka participates at the JATA Tourism Expo 2019 held in Osaka, Japan creating a positive impact on its Japanese counterparts showcasing its uniqueness as a travel destination on 24-27 October.

Known as one of the biggest trade and consumer-oriented travel fair, Tourism Expo in Japan has pulled in over 210,000 visitors and 152 countries and regions during the fair in 2018. Moreover, JATA Congress has attracted 1,052 delegates in the same year. Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) has been participating at JATA Travel Fair for the last 20 years to promote Sri Lanka tourism products among Japanese travelers.

Sri Lanka Tourism participates in the event annually with the main goal of promoting and introducing Sri Lankas cultural and historical attractions to the Japanese market and to offer a platform specifically build to enhance business partnerships with their Japanese counterparts.

Sri Lanka was represented by travel agents and hoteliers who have been promoting Sri Lanka in the Japanese market for so many years. The Sri Lanka delegation for this years fair included SLTPB Japan Market Junior Manager Kalpa Gunasinghe, SLTPB Assistant Director Thanuja Muniweera and Industry representative from Sri Lanka Ushan Ediriweera.  

The Sri Lanka pavilion was opened under the patronage of Honorary Consular in Osaka Dr. Kyo Ito, Commercial Minister Samantha Wijesekara representing the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Tokyo, Japan, and Sri Lanka Business Council Chairperson Saman Priyankara. 12 industry participants joined the Sri Lanka delegation at this mega event. 

The items which drew the attention of the visitors were the tea counter, roulette board, the selfie corner and the VR experience, where Japanese visitors were able to get an exclusive opportunity of getting a life like experience of whale watching and the scenic beauty of Sri Lanka. The Japanese visitors were impressed to explore the amazing holiday and travel opportunities that Sri Lanka had to offer and its scenic beauty, the cultural and natural wonders.  

This year, the exhibition saw a large crowd of over 150,000 visitors in all four days, even more than the fair which was held in Tokyo last year. This was the first time in which the event was held in Osaka, since traditionally it has been held in Tokyo since its inception. 

Business to Business (B2B) meetings were also held at the Sri Lanka Pavilion (B2B) where the members of the Sri Lankan delegation was able to discuss and exchange trade ideas with their Japanese counterparts. This year, SLTPB reserved an area of one 26 square meters for the Sri Lanka pavilion.  The SLTPB officials were able to meet government organisations such as Japan Airlines, Japan Association of Travel Agents, Japan International Co-Operation Agency, advertising and PR companies including Sakura International Inc., Dentsu Inc., Japan Footage Inc., Travel agents and Tour Operators such as Euro travel services, Red Apple travel, Orange Inc., and Tokyu Agency Inc. 



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