SriLankan Airlines has relaunched its SriLankan Holidays leisure arm in Thailand, with Pete Ratanachetkul, managing director of Billion Aviation, appointed to manage the business.
At a press conference last Thursday, Jayantha Abeysinghe, manager Thailand & Mekong Region of SriLankan Airlines, explained that airline is targeting to promote more offerings to Thai tourists beyond Buddhist tourism, especially in the face of increased competition from regional rivals like Japan and India.
New chief Pete (left) with Jayantha
The relaunch is expected to boost SriLankan Airlines passenger volume by 10-20 per cent in its first year.
SriLankan Holidays was tested in the Thai market in 2002. Though it met success, the project was suspended due to changes in the company.
Now, seeing the potential of Thailand as a key market to promote Sri Lanka’s tourism with the purchase of package tours soaring, SriLankan Holidays is bundling flight tickets, accommodation and tours to attract more Thais.
“Nearly 10,000 Thai tourists travel to Sri Lanka and the number increases every year. The main route from Sri Lanka to the Maldives for Thai tourists is showing continued growth,” said Pete.
SriLankan Airlines also plans to step up its frequency on the Bangkok-Colombo route from twice to thrice-daily starting July 15, 2017.
SriLankan Holidays targets six main routes – the Maldives, Sri Lanka, Seychelles, India, the Middle East and London.
