Nearly 5000 Sri Lankans tour Spain annually
View(s):Spain is currently looking at attracting more tourists from Sri Lanka and South East Asia with an official team visiting Colombo this week to meet local travel agents.
“In Spain we believe every market is important and has the potential to increase the number of people entering the country,” Tourism Counsellor and Director at Tourism office of Spain in Mumbai Ignacio Ducasse said in an interview with the Business Times on the sidelines of the Spain Tourism presentation.
He noted that presently the numbers were small at approximately 5000 per year from Sri Lanka that could be improved upon from here as well as the rest of South East Asia.
Since Spain is new to the Sri Lankan market, Mr. Ducasse said they initially wanted to have a feel of the market by talking to the local travel industry agents and obtaining their feedback on what Sri Lankans would expect from this destination.
Spain is having a strong presence from the Indian traveller, with about 80,000 visiting the destination already, he pointed out adding that since 2009 the arrivals had doubled.
MICE is their main area of interest, he asserted adding that they had facilities for groups and could organise events and incentive travel trips as well.
Spain Tourism was working in collaboration with Turkish Airlines to market the destination aiming at using this connectivity to bridge the two countries.
“We are confident of getting an increasing number of visitors from Sri Lanka,” Spain Tourism Mumbai Office Trade Manager Lisha Krishnan said addressing the travel agents.
She pointed out that currently Spain ranked as the third most visited destination after France and the US and they were currently having an office in Mumbai for services to the region.
Spain Tourism caters to a large market of tourists and also helps its travellers to visit the destination by designing routes for those wanting to tour by driving their own car. In addition visitors could tour Spain on high speed trains that connect all of Spain as well, it was noted.
The country has to offer beaches, to vineyards and vibrant festivals adding character to this destination and creating a unique feel of having arrived in Spain.
(Sunimalee)