Tourism authorities yet to award PR and ad campaigns despite Cabinet approval

After almost three months since the Easter Sunday attacks, Sri Lanka’s tourism authorities still have failed to award the PR and advertising campaigns to the selected advertising agency, to support the flagging industry. The Cabinet approval was given in late May to award the nearly Rs.1 billion campaigns to J. Walter Thompson (JWT).

The 45-day PR campaign and six-month marketing campaign were aimed at creating the right sentiment and perception on Sri Lanka, in the aftermath of the Easter Sunday attacks.
Responding to a media query, at a recent event in Colombo, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotions Bureau (SLTPB) Managing Director Charmarie Maelge said that the agreement to award the two campaigns is still at the drafting stage.

“The agreement is being drafted with the support of the AG’s Department. We will be entering into contractual agreement very soon. Everyone in the administration is very keen to get it out and fast-track the implementation,” she said.

While noting it’s the largest campaign ever to be awarded by Sri Lanka’s tourism authorities, Maelge said that the SLTPB is cautiously following the necessary procedures. 

Further, she revealed that the scope of the PR campaign has undergone several changes to meet the current requirements of the industry.  

“We are not crisis managing or damage controlling; we are on a tourism revival path. Hence, it is needed to cater to meet the current needs of the tourism industry. It’s being tailor-made to meet our present requirements,” she said. 

However, the SLTPB official didn’t disclose a specific date as to when the two campaigns would be launched.

Maelge expects that the tourist arrivals to further recover to 5,000 per day by the end of this month, after the daily arrivals surpassed 4,000 early this month.