SLTPB to allocate Rs.4 bn for promotions this year

Says govt. formulating a nation branding campaign

The Sri Lanka Tourism Promotions Bureau (SLTPB) will spend Rs. 4 billion on promotions this year, while a coherent destination marketing plan will be delayed further, officials said.

“We’re looking at Rs. 4 billion with airlines, digital marketing which is a major component, plus trade fairs and road shows. Then the publicity of various e-brochures and publication of various material, all of it will come under that,” SLTPB Chairman Paddy Withana said.

He said that last year, the agency had spent a little under Rs. 3 billion. SLTPB will also continue to sponsor journalists and crews from popular media institutions across the world.

SLTPB Marketing Director Madhubani Perera said that while most of the promotional efforts are an organic expansion of SLTPB’s traditional marketing mix, digital marketing will be a new initiative.

SLTPB had saved around Rs. 2 billion over the years to launch a major branding campaign this year.

While the funds were absorbed into the Treasury’s consolidated fund under the 2016 budget, Withana said that the Treasury has agreed to allocate that money towards tourism spending.

For 2017 and onwards, SLTPB will have to negotiate their way through the budget cycle for funding.

Local and international experts have noted the lack of a strong Sri Lankan tourism brand, and their advice is to communicate a message centered on diversity, compactness and authenticity.

SLTPB has cycled its way through seven different brands over the last 15 years—confusing tourists—with some of the more effective brands being axed the fastest due to political interference.

Some of the most successful tourism brands across the world have not changed in decades.

Perera said that SLTPB will not engage in a branding campaign exclusive for tourism in the 
near future.

“The government is currently formulating a nation branding campaign. We will have to wait for that, and then we will use that,” Perera said.

Perhaps due to this, the four tenders for an ad-campaign, digital marketing, public relations and media buying which were temporarily halted last November over allegations of anomalies in the tender process will never be reopened.

The initial ad campaign worth Rs. 200 million had been shortlisted to 4 ad agencies.

“It is a temporary stop that we didn’t open the tenders. We are looking at new thinking like airline marketing and digital marketing.  We’re going back and looking for different new thinking. They (tenders) are not going to be started again. We have alternatives for the future. Something similar with new thinking,” Withana said.

SLTPB Managing Director Ruvini Dias Bandaranayake said that the agency is looking at implementing a structured marketing campaign which can be assessed during its implementation, instead of planning and participating separately for each event.

Under recently revised tourism targets, Sri Lanka is expecting to attract 2.2 million tourists with US$3.6 billion in receipts for 2016, and 4.5 million tourists with US$ 10 billion in receipts 
for 2020.

The country attracted 1.8 million tourists in 2015, missing the 2 million target set by the past regime, while generating US$ 2.98 billion in foreign inflows.(CW)