Sri Lanka Tourism is targeting 600,000 Indian tourist arrivals in 2024, aiming for best-ever figures from its number one inbound tourism source market.
Last year, Sri Lanka recorded 302,844 tourist arrivals from India, which was more than double compared to 123,004 tourist arrivals recorded in 2022. So far, the best year for Sri Lanka Tourism in the Indian market was in 2018 when it recorded 424,887 tourist arrivals.
In order to meet its target, the NTO is launching a major promotional campaign in the Indian market starting mid-April. It also organised two city roadshows for Indian travel consultants covering Mumbai and New Delhi earlier this month. Also in the pipeline are a couple of roadshows that will be organised in tier-II Indian cities later this year.
“We have bounced back strongly post the setbacks caused by the pandemic and the economic crisis. In the recent past, our campaigns have focused on confidence building that we as a country are ready and secure to welcome tourists. However, in our new campaign beginning April, our focus is going to be on showing the diversity of Sri Lanka as a destination,” said Nalin Perera, managing director, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau while speaking to TTG Asia on the sidelines of New Delhi roadshow on Tuesday.
“We are traditionally known for sun and beach but we have much more, be it culture, religion, culinary, adventure, wildlife and more.”
Perera shared that the 360-degree communication campaign will be covering digital, print and TV platforms with a ‘substantial’ investment.
“Considering strong demand from the Indian market, we are going to embark on an aggressive promotional campaign in India. The campaign is also going to focus on regional reach within the country,” he added.
The new year has already begun on a high note for the Sri Lankan tourism industry’s prospects in India. In January 2024, the number of Indian tourists visiting Sri Lanka increased by over 100 per cent, rising from 13,759 in January 2023 to 34,399.
Some of the segments that Sri Lanka is focusing on in India include FITs, families, wedding and MICE. In order to promote the destination for Indian film shoots, Sri Lanka is planning to introduce a single window clearance system by the first financial quarter of 2024.
“Presently, production houses have to visit many places to get approvals for shootings. In the single window concept, they will only need to work with Sri Lanka tourism to obtain all required approvals. This we expect will reduce the approval timelines by 50 per cent,” noted Perera.
Overall, Sri Lanka recorded 1.5 million international tourist arrivals in 2023 and is targeting 2.3 million international tourist arrivals in 2024.
TransNusa Airline, a subsidiary of Linkasia Airlines Group and Panca Global International Indonesia, has rebranded itself as a Premium Service Carrier globally.
Established in 2005. TranNusa stopped operations in 2020 due to the global pandemic and was sold. In 2022, the airline saw the injection of new shareholders – Panca Global International Indonesia (51 per cent) and Singapore-based Linkasia Airlines Group (49 per cent) – and a new management team, which developed a unique business model that allowed TransNusa to rebrand itself as a Premium Service Carrier.
TransNusa Group CEO Bernard Francis remarked that TransNusa has become the fastest growing airline in South-east Asia due to the business plan that was developed and implemented swiftly post Covid-19.
“We knew that traveller’s behavioural pattern had changed, specifically due to the pandemic. Our next step was to develop a customised business model for the targeted passengers,” he said, adding that the airline has flown over one million passengers between October 2022 and December 2023.
In April last year, TransNusa expanded its reach from domestic to international with the launch of its Jakarta-Kuala Lumpur route. Subsequently in the same year, the airline also launched three new routes – Jakarta-Singapore, Jakarta-Guangzhou, and Jakarta-Johor.
Francis, an aviation industry expert who specialises in airline turnaround and revenue management, said that TransNusa has increased its flight frequencies to seven times a week to Singapore, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China and Johor Bahru, Malaysia. The airline has also increased its flight frequencies to 21 times weekly to Kuala Lumpur, 14 times weekly to Yogyakarta and 35 times weekly to Bali.
“Last year, we expanded our operations to include international routes and even became the second Indonesian airline to fly into China. We also managed to obtain all necessary approvals in a short timeframe from world-class Changi airport, reflecting the strong commitment we have towards safety, security, maintenance and aircraft performance measures,” he said.
On the airline’s future expansion, Francis shared that the airline has plans to further expand its international network, as well as to establish another domestic hub and provide its domestic market with premium services.
He stressed that TransNusa’s current services exceeded that of a low-cost airline.
“For our domestic and international flights, we not only provide premium services with competitive ticket prices in comparison to other low-cost airlines, but we have attractive new product bundles called Seat, Seat-Plus and Flexi-Pro,” he explained.
Depending on the product purchased, passengers can enjoy check-in baggage weighing between 15kg and 30kg. Flexi-Pro features include checking in baggage of up to 30kg, seat choices, free F&B, priority check-in and boarding, as well as the flexibility to change the flight schedule and receive refunds if needed.
In addition, all TransNusa flights will only depart and arrive at major international airports, allowing passengers to enjoy the world-class services offered at these international terminals.