Annis’ Travel and Tours sets stage for destination Sri Lanka
Mr. Nissther Annis
Sri Lanka has gained recognition as a destination worth travelling to as tour operators continue to market the land amidst challenges and one such organisation is Lanka Travel & Tours based in London.
The company’s Managing Director Nissther Annis speaking to the Business Times (during a visit to Colombo) recalled his early days in trying to sell a destination not so well known by the travelling public in the UK.
He started out in 1975 gaining experience in the tourism industry at the time and subsequently travelled to the UK in 1978 from where he is even today selling tour packages of varied kinds and trying to attract as many tourists as possible to visit Sri Lanka.
Inspite of the insurgency and other political upheavals experienced at that time, Mr. Annis said he would market Sri Lanka by asking travellers in the UK to help the country by going out there and experiencing the beautiful sights and sounds of the island nation.
Rates that started out at 40 pounds have surged to 110 pounds now in Colombo.
As one of the first Air Ceylon agents in the UK, Mr. Annis explained that UK residents had little knowledge of Sri Lanka back then and would rather connect us to Indians and Pakistanis and later to cricket. Mr. Annis has also been the first ever Sri Lankan to be appointed as agent for Qatar Airways and Royal Jordanian as well.
In 2008, Mr. Annis said they were able to market a 3-day medical package to British nationals but today he finds it hard to do so. The rates need to be competitive enough to market such packages today, he said.
This package was offered in collaboration with Apollo Hospitals mainly for complete check-ups which are said to cost over 500 Pounds in the UK at the time would be costing only a fraction of it during a holiday in Sri Lanka. In addition he had also offered treatments for dental requirements that are considered expensive in Europe.
Playing host to a number of delegates from famous Sri Lankan personalities in the field of cricket and other renowned government officials, Mr. Annis has taken time to ensure Sri Lankan makes its mark on the UK masses wanting to travel out and explore.
He competes on price with other tour operators as Mr. Annis has a better advantage over the rest of the competitors in the industry in the UK due to his wide knowledge on the destination.
Mr. Annis has been hosting events together with the Institute of Travel and Tourism in the UK in a bid to attract more attention from UK travel agents as a result of which he was able to ensure more UK nationals will travel to Sri Lanka.
During this time in addition to his many efforts to initiate conferences related to tourism in Sri Lanka, he was also interested in playing host to the British Institute of Travel and Tourism of which he is a Fellow for its Annual Conference in Colombo.
Today while he still contributes to market Sri Lanka as a destination to the many visitors from UK Mr. Annis is also engaged in charity work through the Al-Ihasan Trust of the UK.
Due to the current economic crisis, the Trust supports orphans and widows providing them with emergency relief in the form of, essential dry ration packs worth Rs.12 million for 1,000 packs to vulnerable families, in several districts recently. In addition he would be engaged in supporting those finding it hard to survive with some in Colombo and several other needy families in Kinniya, Trincomalee, Puttalam, Batticaloa and Aluthgama.
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