The GITF is South China’s leading travel Expo drawing affluent travel enthusiasts every year from mainland China. The volume of visitors to this event has been increasing annually and this has enabled Sri Lanka to gain greater exposure and visibility for its unique destination brand.

One of the highlights for Sri Lanka was winning the “Most Popular Tourism Destination Award“at the Awards night. This is the second consecutive year Sri Lanka has won this award and is testament to the country’s growing popularity among Chinese travel enthusiasts. China has been Sri Lanka’s second largest source market for tourism since 2014.

The Consulate General also organized two Tourism Road shows and B2B networking exchanges on the sidelines of the GITF at the Westin Hotel in Guangzhou on 21st February and the Crowne Plaza hotel in Shenzhen on 27th February to encourage further travel to Sri Lanka.

Participants included travel experts and travel suppliers, Travel agents, influential Bloggers in Guangdong province and the media. Both Tourism Road shows were actively supported by the provincial government’s Tourism Authorities in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, notably with their presence.