Sri Lanka hotel group calls for destination marketing

Feb 15, 2013 (LBO) - A top Sri Lankan resort operator which also has overseas operations has again called for tourism authorities to have strong destination promotion in line with regional competitors. Aitken Spence said it had strong results from the Maldives, which is set up as a niche high end destination. "We are keen to strengthen our leisure portfolio in Sri Lanka and overseas," J M S Brito, deputy chairman and managing director of Aitken Spence said in a statement.

"However, we would like to reiterate the need for a robust destination marketing strategy for Sri Lanka to overcome some of the key challenges we are presently facing in tourism and to achieve the industry’s full potential for the country."

Aitken Spence controls around 870 resort hotel rooms outside Colombo, as well as hotels in Maldives, India and Oman totaling around 2,000 rooms.

Sri Lanka's tourist promotional authorities charges a cess of about one percent from hotels for promotion and top leisure operators have been calling for a strong promotional campaign for several years.

Sri Lanka has been benefiting from positive international tourism press after the end of a 30-year war in 2009, but hotel pricing has