Amith Sumanapala and
Chandana de Silva with the new travel brochures
Pic by Dharmasena Welipitiya

SriLankan Holidays, the holiday arm of Sri Lankan airlines launched two new travel brochures promoting both inbound and outbound holidays.

The General Manager of SriLankan Holidays, Amith Sumanapala at a press conference held at the SriLankan Airlines office said, "We are happy to introduce the first set of fully illustrated travel brochures for both inbound and outbound holidays featuring 29 SriLankan Holiday partner hotels hand-picked for the quality service, offered by them.

The brochures are user friendly and feature 15 exciting holiday destinations covering Sri Lanka's pristine beaches, the commercial capital, the hill country and the cultural enclave.

"Amith pointed out they will be a valuable tool for travellers looking to holiday in Sri Lanka or in any one of the destinations served by SriLankan Airlines.

He also said the all inclusive pricing strategy without a hidden cost is what makes it popular among the customers. Hence the growth of SriLankan Holidays has been phenomenal during the 2006, 2007 financial year.

"Our initial package to destinations like Bangkok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Beijing, Hong Kong, Dubai and India were very successful".

Now we also offer packages to cities like Frankfurt, Paris and Tokyo as well, said Amith.

Pilgrim tours, romantic getaways, senior citizen packages are all exciting and we ensure that quality is never compromised, Sumanapala added.

Titled "what will you bring back" the outbound brochure is a guide and an invitation for Sri Lankans to explore the land, its beauty and culture.

The outbound brochure explores 39 holiday hotspots spread across China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Pakistan, Maldives and India ensuring quality.

We also offer some tactical offers such as additional rupee for an extra night and this has been a huge success.

Our campaign "Visit Sri Lanka" targeting the Indian market was very successful. There are different packages available to 10 major cities in India, Delhi, Mumbai, Hydrabad, Bangalore, Goa, Cochin, Calicut, Trivendram, Trichy and Chennai.

'We will increase our frequencies adding new destinations in time to come' said Amith. Talking about the success of SriLanka Holidays Amith said that the staff of SriLankan Holidays selected for our packages.

SriLankn Holidays celebrated its first anniversary since its re-launch in October 19th 2006, when it undertook the challenge to revamp its marketing strategy and build a global partnership offering a world of memories to a fast growing clientele of holidaymakers.

Since then, SriLankan Holidays has established a global partnership and franchise operations across the network, including its Indian distribution network - the largest outside Sri Lanka.

The now very popular 'Mega 999' and 'Red Hot' holiday packages were also introduced during the year, helping broad base the leisure markets in Sri Lanka and the region.

"Today we have a situation where an Indian national opts for a SriLankan Holiday package to Sri Lanka, the Far East and the Middle East. It is also encouraging to see more interest form Middle East residents to holiday in the Far East and the Maldives," says Mr. Sumanapala.

"Keeping up with the demand our 'Visit Sri Lanka Campaign' generated earlier this year, SriLankan Holidays has now launched a new initiative 'Exciting Sri Lanka', to encourage more Indian and Middle East residents to visit Sri Lanka and explore the diversity the island has to offer".

The year also saw SriLankan Holidays introduce Trade Net, a real-time internet based booking engine, allowing travel partners to offer hoidaymakers immediate hotel, flight and tour confirmations, custom make holiday packages and advice on fares.

Mr. Sumanapala added that, "Our successful all inclusive pricing strategy and hassle-free service has helped a wider Cross-section of holidaymakers enjoy a stress free vacation and discover a world of memories".

"It is also the Holidays team - SriLankan Holidays staff and our global partner together with the support we receive from the national tourism organisations in the destinations we work with, that have made our success possible".