Sri Lanka runs promotions to attract Bangladeshi tourists

Dhaka : In an effort to attract more tourists from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) with the assistance of Sri Lanka High Commission in Dhaka and Sri Lankan Airlines organised an eight-day familiarisation (FAM) tour for two groups of the Bangladesh Travel Writers Association (BDTWA) and Tour Operators Association of Bangladesh (TOAB) from February 25 to March 4.
The visit coincides with the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh which falls on March 4. Minister of Tourism Prasanna Ranatunga welcomed the group on February 25 with the officials of Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau.
The group comprised 10 members of the Tour Operators Association of Bangladesh and six members, four travel writers and two photographers, of the Travel Writers Association of Bangladesh. The groups visited Sri Lanka as Sri Lankan Airlines provided sponsorship of the air travel for all participants.
During the eight-day stay in Sri Lanka, tour operators, travel writers and photographers visited a number of iconic and historical sites of the country including Sigiriya, Matale, Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, Ella, Galle, Bentota and Colombo city.
On March 3, members of the Tour Operators Association and Travel Writers Association of Bangladesh had B2B meetings with 50 leading Tour operators and hoteliers and media persons of Sri Lanka and discussed the way forward for further collaboration of two-way tourism promotion of both Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. 
S Hettiarachchi, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Dushan Wickramasuriya, Director Marketing, SLTPB, and Presidents of the Tour Operators Association and Travel Writers Association of Bangladesh addressed the event. The FAM trip concluded with the B2B event.