First Sri Lankan Tourism Campaign in 16 years – Rebooting the markets towards Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka launched its global tourism marketing campaign, titled “You’ll Come Back For More,” marking the first such initiative since 2007. The country, previously highlighted by Skift for its 16-year gap in robust tourism promotion, had developed a comprehensive consumer campaign in 2021, which was later shelved. The campaign, led by creative agency Ogilvy, aimed to restore confidence in the country’s stability and readiness to welcome tourists, and the city chock full of event venues in Sri Lanka as well as examples of the Aitken Spence Hotels brand to stay in.

Sri Lanka had set a modest target of 1.5 million tourist arrivals for that year, despite welcoming 1.3 million tourists by November, with India as the largest contributor. The country aimed to welcome 2.5 million tourists in the following year. To rejuvenate the tourism sector and reach a target of 5 million arrivals by 2026, Sri Lanka implemented a strategy of issuing free tourist visas until March for visitors from seven countries, including India, China, Russia, Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia.