MUMBAI: Followed by the enormous success gained by the first ever 3day promotional campaign held in Bangalore, Sri Lanka's second 3 day mega joint promotional campaign, named as "Get Sri Lankaned", will be held in Mumbai from 17th -20th May 2013. Organized under the patronage of H.E the President Mahinda Rajapaksa the event will feature the joint efforts of key government institutions and private sector organizations in Sri Lanka creating a single collaborative platform for promoting travel, trade and investments of the country.

The event will unfold in five stages covering all areas of opportunity created for private and public sector organizations to interact and generate fruitful ventures to promote the two countries travel trade and industrial relations. The campaign will feature an array of activities including media briefings, ‘Sri Lankan Evenings‘ with fashion shows, Sri Lankan food festivals, B2B (business-to-business) meetings, travel and investment forums and shopping Mall activations between the travel traders of the two countries .

India is identified as a key potential market consisting vast opportunity for growth in areas related to travel and tourism trade of Sri Lanka while focusing to strengthen the trade and investment relations between the two countries. The main objective of the event is to promote destination Sri Lanka for the prospective travelers in India, given the fact that Indian market generates the highest number of travelers to Sri Lanka for many years.

Sri Lankan Cricketing Legends such as Hon. Arjuna Ranathunga, Hon. Sanath Jayasuriya, Mr. Mahela Jayawardena, Mr. Muttaiyah Muralidaran, Mr. Lasith Malinga and the Bollywood film legend Amitabh Bachchan will also grace this event that will be held in Mumbai.

The ?Get Sri Lankaned? campaign creates an opportunity to showcase Sri Lanka as a tourist and trade destination for Indians. The three day campaign organized by the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau will kick start with a Press Conference on 10th May 2013 in Mumbai as the introductory step of the series of events. It will be followed by Sri Lanka Night on 17th May considered as the most glamorous of all with the participation of 500 high profile guests from Mumbai including Indian film sport celebrities, Sri Lankan Cricket celebrities including Sri Lankan cultural show and food festival launched on this night.

The ?Get Sri Lankaned campaign? will also be launched at Phoenix Shopping Mall in Mumbai during 17th ? 19th May which will provide consumers with the opportunity to taste Sri Lankan food, get a glimpse of Sri Lankan Culture and traditional dancing, while DJ?s and Entertainers will interact with the audience. Live games will be organized at the Phoenix Mall and the winners will be awarded with free holiday packages to Sri Lanka.

The B2B Meetings for Travel & Tourism Industry will take place on 18th May. Travel & Investment Forum will be held 20th May with the participation CEO?s from key government & private sector organizations from India and Sri Lanka.

All activities like Media Briefings, Sri Lankan Evenings with Fashion shows, Sri Lankan Food Festivals, B2B meetings between the travel trade of the two countries and Business Seminars etc. will be launched at the Taj Land?s End in Mumbai from 10th May onwards. The events will include nearly 70 Sri Lankan public and private sector institutions, representing tourism, trade and investment.

Sri Lanka Tourism, under the guidance of the Minister of Economic Development, Hon. Basil Rajapaksa, launched a five year strategic development plan for the sector, from 2011-2016, based on the Mahinda Chintana -Vision for the Future - Development Policy Framework. This strategic development plan of Sri Lanka Tourism will achieve its core objectives of serving the needs of all stakeholders and ensuring the economic benefits of the industry expanded within a larger cross section of the society from fisherman, craftsman, farmer, street vendor, tour guide and tour operator, and the Hotel industry. With the visionary leadership of H.E. the President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the guidance of Hon. Minister Basil Rajapaksa, the tourism industry is poised for growth being in line with the national effort of making Sri Lanka, the emerging Wonder of Asia.

Sri Lanka Tourism, under the Ministry of Economic Development, has organized this event in partnership with state associate partners such as Sri Lankan Airlines, Sri Lanka Cricket, Sri Lanka Tea Board, National Gem and Jewelry Authority, Export Development Board, National Film Corporation, Board of Investment of Sri Lanka, Export Development Board, Sri Lanka Convention Bureau, Sri Lanka Handy Craft Board (Laksala), and Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority. Taj Hotels and Palaces, Sri Dalada Maligawa-Kandy, Tourists Hotel Association Of Sri Lanka(THASL),Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators(SLAITO), Association of Small and Medium Enterprises in Tourism (ASMET) ,Avirate, Dankotuwa porcelain, Noritake, Prasanna Bathik, Dilmah Tea, Siddhalepa, Stone & String, SpiceJet Airways, join as the associated partners for this joint promotion campaign.

SLTPB believes that the upcoming city based campaign series in India will help the country to capture a slice out of the vastly growing outbound travelers of India. According to the UNWTO, Indian outbound tourists will rise to 50 million by 2020, while in 2011 this number stood at 14.21 million. Sri Lanka welcomed 170,000 Indian tourists in 2012; the biggest number arrived from a single country. SLTPB is also expecting to attract 400,000 Indian tourists by the year 2016, thus helping to reach Sri Lanka?s goal of 2.5 million visitors by the year 2016.

Sri Lanka makes an ideal destination for Indian travelers due to factors such as close proximity between the two countries, Sri Lanka?s diverse tourist attractions such as, pristine beaches, Shopping, Adventure, Food, Nature, Casinos, Night Life and many more.

Nearly 100 flights (Sri Lankan airlines, Jet airways, Indian airlines) travel between India and Sri Lanka per week. Sri Lankan Airlines operates in eight Indian cities, giving easy connectivity between the two countries.

The ?Get Sri Lankaned? campaign is scheduled to cross over to the other cities in India namely Delhi, Hyderabad, Cochin and Ahmedabad in the next months of the year 2013.