Srilankan roadshow for image correction

Sri Lanka dislikes its 'cheaper destination' billing and is seeking premium positioning.

Sharuka Wickrama Adittya wants to change all perceptions of tourism in his country. As area manager, north India, Srilankan Airlines, he's confident his carrier will continue to be the biggest contributor to the promotion of tourism on the island.

Recovering from the damage caused by the tsunami in 2004, the country suffered a huge decline in tourism. Even so, it's going in for an image change as a top-of-the-line destination, contrary to its earlier image of a cheap stopover promoted, ironically, by the airline.

In effect, this means playing up "watersports, golf courses and casinos in Sri Lanka", says Adittya. In fact, in the first week of February, Srilankan Airlines will organise a roadshow for Indian travel agents to promote Sri Lanka as "a wedding destination". India is the second-highest revenue-generating market for Sri Lanka's tourism industry ""the first is Japan.

The country best-known for "cricketer Jayasuriya, its internal political problems, and of course, the sea" is now beeing promoted "as a premium holiday destination".

The first step in this direction is its "air taxis". Priced at $350 a trip, "these aircraft ply to 14 destinations within Sri Lanka and land on runways specially created in the midst of exotic waterfronts", says Adittya.

Even though the service was started two years ago, it received attention in the aftermath of the tsunami. "Many NGOs and rescue operation forces that needed to reach Sri Lankan cities quickly found this service helpful," explains Adittya. "We've spruced it up since, and a large number of tourists are queuing up to take these air taxis."

If the airline is on a marketing overdrive, it is to promote tourism more aggressively. "Until now," says Adittya, "people thought of Sri Lanka as a stopover destination to reach other South-east Asian countries. Sri Lanka has to be treated as a destination in itself." The airline is keen to start attracting corporate visitors from India, for starters.

"The MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences, exhibitions) traffic from India has increased to 7 per cent of the total traffic," says Adittya, and he's hoping it'll increase by another 4-5 per cent increase in the same category.

The airlines is keen to grab a fair share of tourists from Ahmedabad and Kolkata. "These have emerged as important markets for us," says Adittya, who is also looking at Pune, Jaipur and Goa as prime source markets. The airline currently operates to 17 destinations but has got the go-ahead to operate to a total of 25 destinations in India.