As the situation in Sri Lanka continues to improve, Mastercard today announced its latest effort to promote the island nation as a safe, affordable destination for inbound travelers. With tourism being a key pillar of the country’s economy, restoring holidaymakers’ confidence and appetite to visit Sri Lanka is the natural next step following the relaxation of travel advisories for Sri Lanka in a number of countries.
To support these objectives, Mastercard has directly sourced more than 50 offers from travel industry partners including hotels, resorts, restaurants, and tour operators. This collaborative effort with the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotions Bureau (SLTPB) includes Mastercard using the ‘Visit Sri Lanka’ slogan.
For cardholders interested in visiting Sri Lanka, Mastercard has brought together comprehensive travel benefits that can be explored on Mastercard’s Priceless Specials platform (https://specials.priceless.com). This curated website is a one stop shop serving Mastercard cardholders globally, giving them access to all relevant offers in any part of the world, based on their card type. These offers cater to consumers’ passion points and interests such as travel, arts and culture, sports, culinary, entertainment and more.
“The tourism industry has always been one of the most important supporting pillars of Sri Lanka’s economy. However, owing to the recent concerns in the country, global media outlets have refrained from promoting a positive outlook on Sri Lanka, leading to diminishing traveller confidence,” said Hon. Harin Fernando, Minister of Tourism. “The Government of Sri Lanka highly appreciates Mastercard’s efforts to support the industry by changing the narrative in an effort to bring more travellers to our tropical shores. We are confident that this partnership will build credibility in Sri Lanka as a renowned destination once again. From the Government’s end, we have ensured that our guests will have uninterrupted accessibility to required services and material for a truly Sri Lankan holiday.”
“With the presence of several global players in Sri Lanka, we are thankful that Mastercard has taken a lead role in bringing Sri Lanka as a destination back to the limelight. In addition to being one of our most trusted partners, Mastercard is one of the few who can execute a campaign as massive as this, given its ability to work with multiple tourism related stakeholders including hotels, airlines and retailers,” said Chalaka Gajabahu, Chairman, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau. “Sri Lanka has made a name for itself as one of the world’s iconic tourist destinations, with international endorsements and accolades recognising the same. Considering how affordable some priceless experiences are in Sri Lanka, the time is now to visit Sri Lanka all in one capsule.”
“As a long-time partner of the Sri Lankan Government, this collaboration with SLTPB is Mastercard’s latest initiative to support the revival of the country’s tourism industry,'' said Sandun Hapugoda, Country Manager, Sri Lanka & Maldives, Mastercard. “Reinvigorating this hard-hit sector is nothing short of essential to the nation’s economic recovery, and that’s what this effort looks to bolster.”
Since 2018, Mastercard has collaborated with the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau to promote the country as a preferred tourism destination across several key source markets including India, Bangladesh and Maldives. In January 2020, Sri Lanka was the first destination in South Asia to be added to Mastercard’s Priceless Cities program, a curated list of destinations that offer exclusive experiences under the Mastercard tagline of – ‘that money can’t buy’. In December 2020, Mastercard partnered with SLTPB to offer Mastercard’s Tourism Insights platform, as well as complimentary consulting services to the Government to support the recovery of Sri Lanka’s tourism sector, post pandemic.