The event was organized by Messe Berlin (Singapore) Pte Ltd and supported by the Singapore Exhibition & Convention Bureau featuring hundreds of exhibiting companies from the Asia-Pacific region, Europe, the Americas, Africa and the Middle East, covering not only the leisure market, but also corporate and MICE travel. Exhibitors from every sector of the industry, including destinations, airlines and airports, hotels and resorts, theme parks and attractions, inbound tour operators, inbound DMCs, cruise lines, spas, venues, other meeting facilities and travel technology companies took part for this show held in Singapore.
Sri Lanka Tourism has been participating at ITB – Asia for the past decade and 12 key industry representatives showcased Sri Lanka for this year’s ITB ASIA edition. The attractive and theme specific Sri Lanka pavilion was declared open by Mr. Wishwanath Aponsu - Acting High Commissioner of Singapore , Mr. Kosala Perera - protocol officer of High Commission of Singapore, Junior Manger of Sri Lanka Tourism – Mr.Kalpa Gunasinghe and with the industry members.
Sri Lanka featured all its tourism products at its stall this year with a special feature added on – a Tea Boutique, serving the world’s first ethically produced tea supplied by Ceylon Tea Board to all visitors stopping by the stall.
Tourist arrivals have seen a cumulative arrival of 10,647 from Singapore as at September 2015 with a growth of 4.3%. ITB Asia generated a strong marketing opportunity for Sri Lanka to showcase the country as a desirable tourist destination not only to the Singapore market but to the entire South Asian and South East Asian region. It is a market place which attracts industry members from Europe and the Middle East and will enable both the authorities and the private sector to link up with key personnel from around the globe. This year’s show recorded almost 10,300 attendees from 108 countries (7% increase from 2014) with 760 exhibitor organizations from 73 countries making it a solid platform for Sri Lanka to market the destination to the world.
