00:00 [Music] 00:05 00:05 hi everyone 00:06 00:06 good evening all the way from colombo 00:08 00:08 sri lanka the destination branding 00:11 00:11 and managing a destination image are 00:13 00:13 essential elements of a destination 00:15 00:15 marketing efforts 00:17 00:17 the destinations with good reputations 00:19 00:19 and a better reputation and with a 00:20 00:20 better image 00:22 00:22 seems to be easier easy to market and 00:24 00:24 also easier to get more 00:26 00:26 tourists to that particular country and 00:27 00:27 we have seen it and you may not wonder 00:30 00:30 why the paris is finding more easier to 00:32 00:32 market than kabul 00:33 00:33 or johannesburg hence the destinations 00:36 00:36 must be favorably differentiated 00:39 00:39 positively differentiated 00:41 00:41 compared with rivals and then it's this 00:44 00:44 positioning will give you 00:45 00:45 what is required for that particular 00:46 00:46 country the key process of destination 00:49 00:49 marketing 00:50 00:50 is a creation and management of a 00:52 00:52 distinctive 00:53 00:53 and an appealing image for the potential 00:55 00:55 travelers 00:56 00:56 this is what we call creation of the 00:59 00:59 image 00:60 00:60 the creation of the image is actually 01:01 01:01 what we call a co-creation 01:03 01:03 every responsible stakeholder of the 01:06 01:06 place 01:07 01:07 of the country of the city will keep on 01:10 01:10 creating that image 01:11 01:11 and be part of the co-creation today we 01:14 01:14 are looking at 01:16 01:16 somewhat end of the light at the end of 01:19 01:19 the tunnel 01:20 01:20 covet is coming to an end or at least we 01:23 01:23 hope with the vaccine 01:24 01:24 and we resume or at least we hope the 01:26 01:26 world travel will start very soon 01:28 01:28 then what shall we do as a destination 01:31 01:31 we have to look 01:31 01:31 beyond the kobe and make sure the 01:34 01:34 destination is ready 01:35 01:35 when the time comes in so along with the 01:38 01:38 sri lanka tourism 01:39 01:39 and the with the stakeholders this 01:42 01:42 particular 01:43 01:43 webinar series will actually reveal 01:44 01:44 something very interesting 01:46 01:46 and let me just take you through today 01:49 01:49 we have in the panel 01:50 01:50 mr john bailey managing consultant 01:52 01:52 global communication consulting a global 01:54 01:54 expert in travel and tourism 01:56 01:56 mr damian cook the founder and the ceo 01:58 01:58 of the tourism frontier 01:60 01:60 and dr kp lali chandraal who's a 02:02 02:02 lecturer and department senior lecturer 02:03 02:03 in the department of marketing 02:05 02:05 and management university of java 02:07 02:07 danpura and also you don't have 02:09 02:09 no stranger to this mrs krimali fernando 02:11 02:11 chairperson sri lanka tourism 02:13 02:13 welcome all of you on behalf of advocate 02:15 02:15 and sri lanka tourism 02:16 02:16 and we believe this particular workshop 02:19 02:19 or at least 02:20 02:20 the webinar will actually give you some 02:22 02:22 sort of insight 02:23 02:23 of creation of the image as well as the 02:25 02:25 co-creation process 02:26 02:26 so that we will be ready in moving 02:29 02:29 forward with sri lanka tourism 02:31 02:31 when when that day comes in pretty soon 02:33 02:33 i believe so with that note 02:34 02:34 i would like to invite um dr k p 02:38 02:38 chandra who has done a wonderful 02:40 02:40 research 02:41 02:41 and this particular research is very 02:43 02:43 very important there are three 02:44 02:44 components in an image that we need to 02:46 02:46 know 02:47 02:47 one is what is the current image what do 02:49 02:49 people think 02:50 02:50 and then what what is the post image the 02:53 02:53 pre and the post image 02:55 02:55 and then what is that gap that we are 02:56 02:56 looking at it and how do we actually 02:58 02:58 build that gap 02:59 02:59 it is not only the responsibility of the 03:01 03:01 government of the public sector 03:02 03:02 it is a responsibility of all 03:04 03:04 stakeholders and we call it's a 03:06 03:06 co-creation process 03:07 03:07 that is taking place so may i now invite 03:10 03:10 um dr 03:11 03:11 k p ali chandra who has done a primary 03:14 03:14 research 03:15 03:15 on the pre expectation so at least the 03:17 03:17 post experience 03:18 03:18 survey on the destination sri lanka over 03:21 03:21 to you dr leith and we'll be actually 03:22 03:22 taking 03:23 03:23 the discussions forward from the finding 03:25 03:25 of that research 03:28 03:28 good evening to all of you i am so glad 03:31 03:31 to be 03:32 03:32 a part of this timely important event 03:34 03:34 organized by sri lankan tourism men 03:36 03:36 so i'm so happy to share the research 03:38 03:38 findings that we found from our research 03:41 03:41 as they pointed out so uh 03:45 03:45 in the next few minutes i will take you 03:46 03:46 through the key findings of the research 03:49 03:49 that we have undertaken during 2017 03:52 03:52 to 2019 time period 03:55 03:55 so research was about images of sri 03:57 03:57 lanka's 03:58 03:58 tourist destination funded by the 04:01 04:01 university of c j award nepota 04:03 04:03 and undertaken by a panel of researchers 04:07 04:07 of the university and two objectives 04:11 04:11 guided our research firstly what are the 04:14 04:14 majors 04:15 04:15 perceived by the lesser purpose visitors 04:18 04:18 based on the actual experiences 04:21 04:21 and also to compare whether these images 04:25 04:25 sound power 04:26 04:26 with the majors that we have projected 04:29 04:29 as well as images the visitors bear in 04:32 04:32 their minds when they visit sri lanka 04:34 04:34 i mean the post-visit images 04:37 04:37 in order to pursue these image 04:40 04:40 objectives we 04:42 04:42 employed a kind of mix method approach 04:45 04:45 so we collected data using both 04:48 04:48 qualitative and 04:50 04:50 quantitative approaches for example 04:53 04:53 surveys semi-structured interviews 04:56 04:56 travel book narratives 04:59 04:59 so uh this survey question actually we 05:03 05:03 conducted 05:04 05:04 in five languages with the support of 10 05:07 05:07 trained field workers who can manage 05:09 05:09 these the languages 05:12 05:12 so to support the research we actually 05:17 05:17 employ two theoretical guidance 05:20 05:20 first the cognitive and effective 05:23 05:23 framework 05:24 05:24 and secondly the three-dimensional 05:26 05:26 framework 05:28 05:28 so cognitive images actually 05:31 05:31 the images that tourists know about sri 05:34 05:34 lanka 05:35 05:35 but do they know before they visit for 05:37 05:37 example if they know that sri lanka is a 05:39 05:39 kind of very beautiful destination 05:42 05:42 sri lanka has friendly people so those 05:45 05:45 are some examples for 05:47 05:47 cognitive images now when it comes to 05:50 05:50 the effective images 05:52 05:52 so they are 05:55 05:55 they are the images that are associated 05:58 05:58 with 05:58 05:58 strong emotions for example excitement 06:03 06:03 joy the feeling of amazement likewise 06:08 06:08 the second approach the 06:09 06:09 three-dimensional framework comes in 06:11 06:11 handy 06:12 06:12 in undertaking a kind of more 06:14 06:14 comprehensive 06:15 06:15 study considering all the three 06:19 06:19 attributes for example first the 06:22 06:22 individual land 06:23 06:23 the holistic impressions so how sri 06:26 06:26 lanka is pursued on 06:27 06:27 individual attributes like natural 06:30 06:30 attractions 06:31 06:31 wildlife t-states so then 06:34 06:34 what are the impressions that tourists 06:36 06:36 have 06:37 06:37 about sri lanka kind of the 06:40 06:40 main total impressions for example if 06:43 06:43 they presented sri lanka is a kind of 06:45 06:45 very green destination 06:48 06:48 lanka is a country filled with happiness 06:51 06:51 and friendly mood so those are examples 06:54 06:54 for 06:55 06:55 holistic images 06:58 06:58 secondly we can analyze the image 07:01 07:01 in terms of directly observable and 07:05 07:05 measurable aspects of example 07:08 07:08 attractions 07:10 07:10 the tool is hotels infrastructure 07:14 07:14 and what are the majors that tourists 07:18 07:18 have in terms of certain less tangible 07:21 07:21 or less 07:23 07:23 less tangible law we cannot directly 07:26 07:26 observe or 07:27 07:27 we cannot directly measure so mostly the 07:30 07:30 experiential elements 07:32 07:32 for example the friendliness of people 07:35 07:35 the tranquil atmosphere of the country 07:38 07:38 so that is the second dimension that we 07:40 07:40 can 07:41 07:41 analyze the destination image thirdly 07:46 07:46 how sri lanka is pursued on 07:49 07:49 common attributes as well as unique 07:52 07:52 attributes 07:53 07:53 so whether we have unique features like 07:56 07:56 unique 07:57 07:57 sri lankan cuisines or 08:00 08:00 whether we have attributes experiences 08:04 08:04 which are 08:04 08:04 common with other neighboring 08:06 08:06 destinations 08:08 08:08 so that was about the mythology and 08:12 08:12 the theoretical guidelines that 08:14 08:14 supported our study 08:17 08:17 now moving on to the key findings so 08:20 08:20 what are the most 08:21 08:21 favorable attributes or the features 08:24 08:24 that that are pursued by visitors based 08:28 08:28 on their real experiences 08:30 08:30 so we found that sri lanka is very 08:33 08:33 favorably evaluated on 08:36 08:36 a lot of and wide variety of attractions 08:40 08:40 the hospitable and friendly residents of 08:42 08:42 the country 09:21 09:21 thirdly 09:26 09:26 sorry for the technical error so off 09:41 09:41 yes so uh in the meantime yeah we are 09:43 09:43 having a 09:45 09:45 slightly uh 09:48 09:48 connection issue but in the meantime ah 09:50 09:50 but dr lauret 09:52 09:52 was explaining about the methodology of 09:54 09:54 the research and then the 09:55 09:55 it came into the key findings and this 09:58 09:58 research actually was supported 09:60 09:60 by many stakeholders in sri lanka and 10:03 10:03 during this process uh 10:04 10:04 i think the university of see java then 10:06 10:06 put a under the guidance of dr lilly 10:08 10:08 chandra i'll actually start 10:10 10:10 working with a large number of students 10:12 10:12 and it's the first time 10:14 10:14 that the university an academy actually 10:16 10:16 has come forward 10:17 10:17 to work with the with the private sector 10:20 10:20 as well as the public sector 10:21 10:21 that you do a research that actually 10:23 10:23 will result a policy making decisions 10:26 10:26 or at least decision making data that 10:28 10:28 will be useful for us 10:30 10:30 i think the most important thing here 10:32 10:32 for for for us 10:33 10:33 is the the this actually information can 10:35 10:35 be useful 10:36 10:36 not only for the public sector but also 10:38 10:38 for the private sector 10:39 10:39 for example what type of images that you 10:41 10:41 should have in your website what type of 10:43 10:43 content you should have in your brochure 10:45 10:45 and this will give you a very clear idea 10:47 10:47 what you doctor thank you 10:52 10:52 so srilanka can offer diverse and rich 10:55 10:55 range of experiences 10:57 10:57 for visitors we none 11:02 11:02 the diverse landscapes and varying 11:04 11:04 climate and geography of the country 11:07 11:07 a great variety of foreign flora the 11:10 11:10 world iconic buddhist attractions 11:12 11:12 you know that unesco heritage sites of 11:14 11:14 the country 11:16 11:16 then the marvelous national parks and 11:20 11:20 wildlife particularly sri lanka is 11:22 11:22 strongly associated with 11:24 11:24 the wild elephants in traveller's mind 11:27 11:27 and the pristine beaches 11:28 11:28 and the coastline and beach related 11:31 11:31 activities available for the tourists 11:34 11:34 the interest in local cultures customs 11:37 11:37 territories 11:38 11:38 so in addition to these strongly held 11:41 11:41 images now we also found on 11:45 11:45 this attribute sri lanka was also 11:48 11:48 positively evaluated by the tourists 11:51 11:51 for example appealing local cuisines and 11:54 11:54 variety of foods good hotels 11:57 11:57 cafes restaurants for tourists 12:00 12:00 the spices and tea you know that sri 12:03 12:03 lanka is famous for 12:05 12:05 a reasonable price for gudden 12:07 12:07 accommodations 12:08 12:08 actually they were not happy about the 12:10 12:10 prices charged at 12:12 12:12 the tourist attractions but they are 12:14 12:14 quite happy about the prices 12:16 12:16 charged for the food and accommodation 12:19 12:19 so in addition we found that 12:23 12:23 these suspects also were favorably 12:25 12:25 evoluted by tourists 12:27 12:27 like opportunities for sea based 12:29 12:29 activities and 12:31 12:31 other adventure activities the 12:33 12:33 opportunities for 12:34 12:34 peaceful experiences 12:38 12:38 opportunities for increased knowledge 12:40 12:40 and revitalize the spirit of 12:42 12:42 visitors and finally in the present 12:46 12:46 weather of the country 12:49 12:49 on this attribute sri lanka was very 12:51 12:51 positively very 12:52 12:52 favorably evaluated but on certain 12:54 12:54 aspects srilanka 12:56 12:56 received moderate evaluations for 12:58 12:58 example 13:00 13:00 the personal safety secondly 13:03 13:03 quality of service a second third 13:07 13:07 travel guide service delivered to the 13:10 13:10 tourists 13:11 13:11 the opportunities for romans 13:14 13:14 and the availability of wide variety of 13:16 13:16 festivals and celebrations 13:18 13:18 so particularly these areas 13:22 13:22 we need to think right how we can 13:24 13:24 improve these experiences furthermore 13:27 13:27 if you take this personal safety this is 13:30 13:30 very important 13:31 13:31 consideration for travelers when they 13:32 13:32 make decisions regarding 13:34 13:34 regarding their destination choice so we 13:37 13:37 need to do certain things to improve 13:39 13:39 these elements and 13:41 13:41 plus we found that certain attributes 13:45 13:45 we are not doing well for example 13:49 13:49 the infrastructure modernity and the 13:52 13:52 urbanization of the country 13:54 13:54 the local transportation and the parking 13:57 13:57 so they were not happy about 13:58 13:58 the options available lot of delays they 14:02 14:02 cannot 14:03 14:03 book train triggers the ripping off 14:05 14:05 behaviors of 14:07 14:07 these taxi drivers the poor design 14:10 14:10 of the train compartments likewise 14:12 14:12 number of things emerge 14:14 14:14 from our research regarding this local 14:16 14:16 transportation 14:17 14:17 and they were they are also not happy 14:20 14:20 about traveling from one city to another 14:22 14:22 city for example 14:23 14:23 from colombo to candy so before they 14:25 14:25 come to sri lanka they thought 14:27 14:27 it's very it's very easy to reach within 14:29 14:29 maybe within one and a half hours 14:31 14:31 uh considering the distance but actually 14:34 14:34 they came right they realized that it 14:35 14:35 takes more than four hours 14:37 14:37 due to heavy heavy traffic jams 14:40 14:40 so so there we need kind of you know 14:43 14:43 proper town planning 14:46 14:46 better road system likewise 14:50 14:50 maybe bypass roads so that travelers can 14:53 14:53 save their time 14:54 14:54 visiting from one place to another place 14:58 14:58 and they are not happy about the 14:60 14:60 information available for travelers 15:02 15:02 including the safety issues and 15:05 15:05 poor nightlife fan entertainment i mean 15:08 15:08 the hedonic 15:09 15:09 aspects of the country and the shopping 15:12 15:12 opportunities 15:13 15:13 and finally the pollution 15:17 15:17 so actually they are worrying about 15:19 15:19 pollution 15:20 15:20 sri lanka being a very beautiful very 15:23 15:23 green 15:23 15:23 country so they they expect sri lankan 15:27 15:27 authorities to 15:28 15:28 do something on these things uh 15:31 15:31 so my voice my point of view that 15:35 15:35 now we can come up with the green that 15:38 15:38 is what we are currently promoting 15:40 15:40 so green plus environmental friendly 15:43 15:43 proposition 15:44 15:44 so that will be more appealing to 15:45 15:45 tourists and also we can address this 15:48 15:48 pollution issue 15:49 15:49 as well 15:52 15:52 later on we examined the holistic 15:55 15:55 pictures 15:56 15:56 of sri lanka's tourist destinations so 15:58 15:58 then we found very strong holistic 16:00 16:00 pictures like 16:02 16:02 scenic and beautiful lust and green 16:04 16:04 compact 16:05 16:05 and compact and diverse the friendly and 16:07 16:07 happy 16:09 16:09 the tranquil and peaceful so these are 16:12 16:12 strongly held holistic images of the 16:15 16:15 country 16:16 16:16 plus we found certain other holistic 16:19 16:19 images they did not 16:20 16:20 have image like as frequently like these 16:24 16:24 things but 16:26 16:26 sri lanka is also associated with these 16:29 16:29 images like 16:30 16:30 adventurous tropical culturally rich 16:33 16:33 authentic country with a lot of 16:35 16:35 elephants 16:36 16:36 and island destination the beast 16:39 16:39 destination 16:41 16:41 so then we analyzed the unique images of 16:44 16:44 the country and we found that that is 16:45 16:45 the least 16:46 16:46 favorable uh aspect of the country so a 16:49 16:49 lot of tourists actually could not even 16:52 16:52 remind 16:53 16:53 the unique images some some claim that 16:56 16:56 sri lanka 16:56 16:56 has a kind of unique places 16:60 17:00 the lion rock scenic train rides gold 17:02 17:02 ford 17:03 17:03 the cave temple but majority got some 17:07 17:07 time 17:07 17:07 to remember these things 17:10 17:10 so uh so 17:13 17:13 furthermore we analyzed this effect to 17:15 17:15 images so we found that sri lanka is 17:17 17:17 very 17:18 17:18 positive in terms of these emotional 17:21 17:21 images like very exciting 17:23 17:23 and relaxing pleasant amazing and happy 17:27 17:27 those things so i think these areas 17:31 17:31 we need to capitalize furthermore so 17:34 17:34 with that 17:35 17:35 uh i think we need to project these 17:38 17:38 things in a more 17:39 17:39 comprehensive and more vivid way so with 17:42 17:42 that 17:43 17:43 i think i can conclude the presentation 17:48 17:48 so it's over to you thank you 17:52 17:52 thank you uh dr ali chantal thank you 17:54 17:54 for the university of si javadanapura 17:55 17:55 for that 17:57 17:57 great piece of work and that's a example 17:59 17:59 that how the public sector private 18:00 18:00 sector and the academia can 18:02 18:02 work together so for joining uh those 18:05 18:05 who are joining on zoom 18:06 18:06 uh you may share your questions via the 18:08 18:08 chat function qna 18:10 18:10 box or for those who are joining on 18:11 18:11 facebook you can also ask your questions 18:13 18:13 via slider.com using the hashtag sri 18:15 18:15 lanka tourism so 18:17 18:17 a lot more to be discussed uh during the 18:19 18:19 course of this 18:20 18:20 webinar so let me just uh straightly 18:23 18:23 move into the 18:24 18:24 our question and answers session in 18:26 18:26 terms of your panelist 18:28 18:28 and they'll be actually taking you 18:29 18:29 through how this can be practically 18:31 18:31 applied 18:32 18:32 within the sri lankan context ah may i 18:34 18:34 just move into 18:35 18:35 damien i think all the way i don't know 18:38 18:38 which part of the world you are 18:39 18:39 currently you must be in kenya watching 18:41 18:41 some 18:42 18:42 live safari somewhere down jeremy nath 18:45 18:45 you have been working in this 18:46 18:46 image of the destination in many 18:48 18:48 countries and in in for many years 18:50 18:50 uh would you very briefly explain what 18:53 18:53 exactly do you mean by a destination 18:55 18:55 image and why is it so 18:57 18:57 important for a country from a tourism 18:60 19:00 marketing perspective 19:04 19:04 uh thanks and welcome everybody great to 19:06 19:06 be here again in sri lanka um 19:08 19:08 talking to the industry um yeah brand 19:10 19:10 brand images is 19:11 19:11 is very important um obviously when it 19:14 19:14 comes to 19:15 19:15 defining the destination as as as a 19:17 19:17 tourism destination 19:19 19:19 but it's something that's changed a lot 19:20 19:20 in in recent years uh we've seen a lot 19:23 19:23 of shifts 19:24 19:24 in travel and tourism in the last five 19:27 19:27 to ten years that 19:28 19:28 have really been quite significant and 19:30 19:30 it's something that we need to consider 19:33 19:33 as we look towards recovery from covert 19:35 19:35 as well 19:36 19:36 um is it the way people have perceived 19:39 19:39 the way people perceive 19:40 19:40 travel the way people perceive 19:41 19:41 destinations is 19:43 19:43 has changed a lot and that's not just 19:46 19:46 the impact of 19:47 19:47 over there were changes that were there 19:49 19:49 last year in 2019 in travel 19:51 19:51 that the pandemic has actually um 19:54 19:54 accelerated 19:54 19:54 and amplified um everybody knows that 19:58 19:58 last year was 19:60 19:60 the considered one that's first in terms 20:03 20:03 of total 20:04 20:04 numbers of arrivals and total spend of 20:06 20:06 travel around the world but it was also 20:07 20:07 the year where we saw 20:09 20:09 let's cook go bankrupt where we saw the 20:11 20:11 hotel industry starting to be very 20:13 20:13 concerned about 20:14 20:14 loss of business to airbnb and other 20:16 20:16 alternative accommodation platforms 20:19 20:19 those changes that were there um are 20:22 20:22 worth considering when we think about 20:24 20:24 the way travelers were perceiving 20:25 20:25 destinations 20:26 20:26 through the filter of those chains of 20:28 20:28 behavior 20:29 20:29 what we're really seeing is the rise of 20:32 20:32 the millennial market the impact of 20:34 20:34 those millennials people 20:35 20:35 aged now between 24 and 39 who are the 20:37 20:37 predominant market for travel 20:39 20:39 and their behaviors having grown up 20:42 20:42 online and in the digital space 20:45 20:45 has given them a different way of 20:46 20:46 perceiving destinations 20:48 20:48 they are not seeing those television 20:51 20:51 commercials they're not seeing those 20:52 20:52 print ads as 20:53 20:53 old with presenting a brand image 20:56 20:56 they're consuming content online they're 20:58 20:58 booking and buying travel online 21:01 21:01 and that really changes the thought 21:04 21:04 processes that they go through from 21:06 21:06 being exposed to a destination being 21:07 21:07 aware of a destination 21:09 21:09 as a brand through to actually travel 21:11 21:11 traveling to the destination 21:13 21:13 and what you see when you consider 21:16 21:16 through the filter of millennial 21:17 21:17 travelers 21:18 21:18 is that because they've grown up online 21:20 21:20 they're exposed to choice 21:22 21:22 they've become very used to customizing 21:24 21:24 their travel experiences to be able to 21:26 21:26 find products that 21:28 21:28 are things that they're interested in 21:30 21:30 that is a unique experience based on 21:32 21:32 their interest their budget and what 21:33 21:33 they what they want to do 21:35 21:35 and what we've seen that shift that 21:37 21:37 we've been seeing is the breakdown of 21:39 21:39 the mass tourism model because this is a 21:40 21:40 demographic that doesn't want to be 21:42 21:42 treated as a commodity 21:43 21:43 doesn't want to join a package tour 21:45 21:45 doesn't want to board a cruise ship 21:47 21:47 does not want to be told this is the 21:48 21:48 destination you're going to 21:50 21:50 and this is what you will do there they 21:52 21:52 want to see the destination 21:54 21:54 their way and they've found platforms to 21:56 21:56 be able to do that 21:58 21:58 from inspiration rather than a 21:59 21:59 television commercial or a brochure or a 22:01 22:01 magazine ad they're looking at instagram 22:03 22:03 which isn't one photo 22:04 22:04 it's thousands of photos and they're 22:06 22:06 finding the ones that appeal to them 22:08 22:08 their image of sri lanka that they would 22:10 22:10 like to visit 22:12 22:12 and they're booking through smaller tour 22:14 22:14 operators 22:15 22:15 that can specialize in their interests 22:18 22:18 they're often booking us to us when 22:19 22:19 they're in destination 22:20 22:20 taking their phone and opening it up 22:22 22:22 while they're there and finding 22:23 22:23 experiences to do and booking them 22:25 22:25 creating their own itinerary so we have 22:28 22:28 to be really careful when we talk about 22:30 22:30 the image of a destination that is not a 22:31 22:31 single image 22:32 22:32 that it's not just this is sri lanka and 22:34 22:34 this is how you come to sri lanka and 22:36 22:36 this is what you do 22:38 22:38 customization individ individualization 22:40 22:40 is critical to us recovering tourism 22:43 22:43 because those millennial travelers will 22:44 22:44 be the first people to begin traveling 22:46 22:46 and we've seen the process of malayal 22:48 22:48 alignment where 22:49 22:49 other generations particularly the ones 22:50 22:50 younger than them generation zed 22:52 22:52 and as older travelers are seeing the 22:55 22:55 way that millennials have traveled the 22:56 22:56 different platforms and channels they're 22:58 22:58 using and they're starting to use them 22:59 22:59 too 22:60 22:60 and we're going to see that form of 23:02 23:02 travel coming back 23:03 23:03 so we need to make sure that the brand 23:05 23:05 of sri lanka the image of sri lanka is 23:06 23:06 one that can 23:07 23:07 have something for many different tastes 23:10 23:10 and many different 23:11 23:11 niches and it's not about one campaign 23:13 23:13 or one single brand image for brand sri 23:15 23:15 lanka 23:15 23:15 it's about multiple campaigns presenting 23:18 23:18 different elements of the destination 23:19 23:19 and critically different experiences 23:22 23:22 that people can have in sri lanka 23:24 23:24 to the right travelers that are looking 23:26 23:26 for those experiences 23:28 23:28 so brand is fragmented in a way through 23:31 23:31 the rise of this change travel so it's 23:34 23:34 become much more complex than just 23:35 23:35 a logo or a picture of some happy people 23:39 23:39 or 23:39 23:39 or a television commercial we really 23:42 23:42 need to change the way that we think 23:44 23:44 about travel and we need to think like 23:46 23:46 travelers and think 23:47 23:47 like tourists many of us make that 23:50 23:50 mistake when we think about our 23:51 23:51 destination we don't 23:53 23:53 picture ourselves as tourists those of 23:56 23:56 you that are thinking you'd like to see 23:57 23:57 a glossy television ad about sri lanka 23:58 23:58 or lincoln tourism when's the last time 23:60 23:60 you saw a television ad 24:01 24:01 this year when you're watching netflix 24:03 24:03 and streaming services you're not even 24:04 24:04 exposed to that sort of content 24:07 24:07 um we need to perceive things through 24:11 24:11 the eyes of potential travelers and 24:12 24:12 understand that travel the travel market 24:14 24:14 has radically changed and perception of 24:17 24:17 brand has changed 24:18 24:18 so this is a conversation i think that 24:20 24:20 is quite complex but it's one that's 24:23 24:23 very important and it is about the 24:25 24:25 diversity and variety of experiences in 24:28 24:28 sri lanka and i know the destination 24:29 24:29 well you have a huge diversity of 24:31 24:31 experiences 24:32 24:32 but they're not for everyone but they're 24:34 24:34 for particular types of people 24:37 24:37 so let's find those people and show them 24:40 24:40 the brand sri lanka that works for them 24:44 24:44 thanks great damien thank you i will 24:47 24:47 skip this since 24:48 24:48 based on what damian mentioned skip that 24:50 24:50 question uh go to john before i come to 24:53 24:53 crimali um john how do we 24:56 24:56 build the the destination image now 24:59 24:59 according to the research by 25:01 25:01 dr chandra the the the pre-visit 25:04 25:04 analysis 25:05 25:05 was clearly shown that the expectations 25:08 25:08 and the imagery that they had was 25:10 25:10 totally different 25:12 25:12 from the post visit now is is this 25:14 25:14 phenomenon is only for sri lanka 25:17 25:17 or is it part of the activities that we 25:19 25:19 should be doing to 25:20 25:20 reduce the gap because for example if 25:22 25:22 somebody is going to london they know 25:23 25:23 what exactly what they're expecting 25:25 25:25 and the and then the gap can be might be 25:26 25:26 reduced or if you take an asian 25:28 25:28 destination such as thailand 25:30 25:30 so does this is a universal uh 25:33 25:33 component that applied for managing the 25:35 25:35 destination 25:36 25:36 or is it something unique to sri lanka 25:38 25:38 which we need to work on 25:39 25:39 if that is the case what are the type of 25:41 25:41 activities that we should be doing 25:44 25:44 as a destination well thanks very much 25:48 25:48 and 25:48 25:48 thanks for inviting me to take part in 25:50 25:50 this i very much wish i was with you in 25:51 25:51 sri lanka it's 25:52 25:52 i'm in mantra switzerland where it's one 25:54 25:54 degree in snowing right now 25:56 25:56 anyway but to to answer your question i 25:58 25:58 i i think it's difficult to get into 26:01 26:01 is this particular issue specific to sri 26:03 26:03 lanka or does it apply to others i 26:04 26:04 suspect 26:05 26:05 it applies to other destinations i'd 26:07 26:07 actually like to come back to 26:08 26:08 um the thread that damien started which 26:12 26:12 is 26:12 26:12 this is about understanding the audience 26:15 26:15 who it is you're trying to reach 26:17 26:17 what do you want and to know about sri 26:19 26:19 lanka how do you want them 26:20 26:20 what do you want to think about sri 26:21 26:21 lanka how do you want them to feel about 26:23 26:23 sri lanka 26:24 26:24 and ultimately what do you want them to 26:25 26:25 do as a result of what you're telling 26:27 26:27 them or the images that they're seeing 26:29 26:29 the impression that they're building so 26:32 26:32 um 26:32 26:32 you know i'm i'm a i'm a communication 26:34 26:34 specialist whereas whereas 26:36 26:36 damien is very much a destination 26:37 26:37 marketing specialist 26:39 26:39 um and the way them which we've worked 26:41 26:41 together quite recently has been with 26:43 26:43 pata pacific asia travel association and 26:46 26:46 of course with sri lanka tourism 26:48 26:48 development authority as well 26:52 26:52 we've come at it from the the challenge 26:54 26:54 from two different directions 26:56 26:56 uh my my direction has been about how do 26:58 26:58 you build an effective communication 26:60 26:60 strategy 27:00 27:00 so that you are delivering the right 27:02 27:02 messages to the right audiences 27:04 27:04 in the right way and it's a very 27:06 27:06 systematic 27:07 27:07 very intentional and very deliberate 27:09 27:09 process that has to be very carefully 27:11 27:11 planned 27:12 27:12 and of course to be truly effective any 27:15 27:15 communication 27:16 27:16 strategy has to absolutely overlap the 27:19 27:19 marketing strategy the two have to 27:21 27:21 have to fit together absolutely so that 27:23 27:23 you're amplifying 27:24 27:24 the message and increasing your 27:26 27:26 effectiveness rather than going off at 27:27 27:27 tangents and saying different things 27:29 27:29 to different people so i think the the 27:31 27:31 uh i'm not sure i'm directly answering 27:33 27:33 your question 27:34 27:34 but i think the important thing is just 27:36 27:36 to emphasize what damian started with 27:38 27:38 you need to understand the audience you 27:41 27:41 need to understand the market that 27:42 27:42 you're trying to reach 27:43 27:43 the specific demographics and the the 27:46 27:46 specific 27:47 27:47 niche audiences within that border 27:49 27:49 demographic and what is it that they 27:51 27:51 want 27:52 27:52 uh from you and and then how can you 27:54 27:54 actually 27:55 27:55 persuade them that you have the right 27:56 27:56 experiences that they're looking for 27:58 27:58 and so i'll i'll throw that back to you 28:00 28:00 i don't know whether you want to 28:02 28:02 add everything to that great john thank 28:05 28:05 you very much 28:06 28:06 um i'll just move on to uh krimali to 28:08 28:08 ask 28:09 28:09 a question from you um now we have heard 28:12 28:12 the research by the university of then 28:15 28:15 also what chivage 28:16 28:16 mentioned about overall image management 28:18 28:18 and the importance of 28:20 28:20 managing this as a communication 28:22 28:22 strategy from john 28:24 28:24 what has been sri lanka tourism approach 28:27 28:27 towards the 28:28 28:28 building the image of sri lanka it's not 28:30 28:30 that i mean we've lost an image but we 28:32 28:32 had an image of 28:34 28:34 after the end of the war in 2010 and 28:36 28:36 then you know slowly the tourism start 28:38 28:38 coming in 28:39 28:39 but in terms of reducing that tree 28:41 28:41 expectation versus post experience kind 28:43 28:43 of a gap that was 28:44 28:44 shown in the in in the by uh by dr um 28:49 28:49 what is the approach of sri lanka 28:50 28:50 tourism or what are the plans currently 28:52 28:52 so that the people can actually 28:54 28:54 plan their vision as well around it 28:58 28:58 actually thank you in the past what has 29:01 29:01 happened i think there's a lot of work 29:02 29:02 that has happened in the past as well 29:05 29:05 where there was promotions sort of ad 29:07 29:07 hoc 29:08 29:08 promotions done right throughout they 29:10 29:10 had 29:11 29:11 got bloggers influencers to come in 29:14 29:14 uh and so on but i think what happened 29:17 29:17 after the war 29:18 29:18 ended in 2009 there was a pent-up demand 29:22 29:22 for sri lanka 29:24 29:24 so you know the tourists came in uh 29:26 29:26 because it was a place they it was a 29:28 29:28 forbidden place 29:29 29:29 for for 30 years so they came in and 29:31 29:31 then 29:32 29:32 we really didn't have an integrated 29:34 29:34 campaign of any form 29:35 29:35 uh for the last possibly 10 10 29:39 29:39 11 years so going forward uh 29:42 29:42 what we're going to look at is i think 29:44 29:44 damian mentioned this before 29:46 29:46 uh is that we're looking at something 29:48 29:48 different from 29:49 29:49 is that we will look at experiences 29:52 29:52 rather than looking at countries now in 29:54 29:54 the past we used to promote 29:56 29:56 india or china or uk or whatever we 29:59 29:59 should promote a nationality actually 30:01 30:01 so i think we're going to move away and 30:03 30:03 we've already started moving away and 30:04 30:04 we're 30:05 30:05 looking at experiences whether it's 30:07 30:07 wellness ayurveda 30:08 30:08 with its adventure uh you know the food 30:11 30:11 the culture 30:12 30:12 and so on so that is an area that even 30:14 30:14 our institution 30:16 30:16 is made according to marketing for 30:19 30:19 countries 30:20 30:20 so it's a gradual process and the team 30:22 30:22 is gradually moving towards creating 30:24 30:24 sort of experience based promotion and 30:26 30:26 branding of sri lanka 30:28 30:28 that's that's one area actually that we 30:30 30:30 are looking at 30:32 30:32 but also i think that the millennium 30:35 30:35 traveler which is mentioned 30:36 30:36 and the people who are not millionaire 30:38 30:38 travelers but who are like myself way 30:39 30:39 older than a millennium but 30:41 30:41 uh but we also we look for experiences 30:44 30:44 and i think it was mentioned that the 30:46 30:46 change 30:47 30:47 happened before covet and people say you 30:50 30:50 know 30:51 30:51 mass scale tourism has changed that's 30:53 30:53 not going to happen anymore because of 30:54 30:54 kovit 30:55 30:55 but frankly from the sri lankan context 30:58 30:58 for the last five six years you could 31:01 31:01 see 31:02 31:02 that the trend had already changed 31:04 31:04 because you have 31:05 31:05 in sri lanka tourism we have about two 31:08 31:08 thousand 31:08 31:08 two thousand five hundred uh registered 31:11 31:11 accommodation 31:12 31:12 and in reality there are about twenty 31:14 31:14 thousand plus who are not registered 31:17 31:17 they were working purely with otas you 31:20 31:20 know so 31:21 31:21 that change already happened for sri 31:23 31:23 lanka and i think that we 31:25 31:25 possibly didn't you know address it 31:28 31:28 enough and i think it's time that we 31:30 31:30 the change has already come we got to 31:33 31:33 change the way we do things 31:34 31:34 uh and we have already a strategy a 31:37 31:37 research road map going forward how we 31:39 31:39 are going to address all this 31:41 31:41 we are looking at the areas of 31:44 31:44 several areas i mean in fact the doctor 31:47 31:47 mentioned the 31:48 31:48 you know the security angle of things 31:51 31:51 and 31:52 31:52 that obviously from a government 31:53 31:53 perspective that's a concern 31:55 31:55 and for the first time uh actually the 31:58 31:58 the government appointed a dig 31:60 31:60 for tourism and now we are opening up 32:03 32:03 branches in the tourist areas 32:05 32:05 we are looking at the lighting we are 32:07 32:07 looking at 32:09 32:09 having petrol like several on the beach 32:12 32:12 and several areas 32:14 32:14 so these are ideas that we are looking 32:15 32:15 at going forward 32:17 32:17 thank you thank you for that explanation 32:20 32:20 i'll move on to damien 32:22 32:22 damien it says in marketing you know 32:24 32:24 that it says that 32:26 32:26 it is shameful to lose a good reputation 32:29 32:29 than not being able to acquire one at 32:31 32:31 all 32:32 32:32 so um the with the the research which 32:35 32:35 done by 32:36 32:36 doctor and the and the team from 32:37 32:37 university of jawad says that 32:39 32:39 the post-visit findings have revealed 32:42 32:42 that you know there are areas such as 32:44 32:44 actually need to improve 32:45 32:45 like personal safety road safety 32:49 32:49 tour guiding local transportation 32:51 32:51 tourist information services 32:54 32:54 shopping avenues the nightlife now 32:57 32:57 what needs to be done to bring these 32:59 32:59 elements to the proposed campaign is 33:01 33:01 that 33:02 33:02 we do we lack those and and that is a 33:05 33:05 result of 33:06 33:06 being reflected in the mindset of the 33:08 33:08 traveler or we have not been able to 33:10 33:10 communicate whatever that we have into 33:12 33:12 some extent 33:13 33:13 if you look at it you know there is a 33:15 33:15 little bit of shopping and the tourist 33:17 33:17 information there is somewhat available 33:19 33:19 so it's 33:19 33:19 what do we do to is it critical at this 33:22 33:22 moment or is it something that we can 33:23 33:23 actively 33:24 33:24 incorporate into the proposed campaigns 33:26 33:26 that have been planned by the tourism 33:28 33:28 authority 33:33 33:33 uh that's a good question i think it 33:35 33:35 comes back a little bit what i was 33:37 33:37 saying earlier about 33:39 33:39 the eyes of a traveler it's a it's a 33:40 33:40 common it's a difficult thing to do 33:42 33:42 particularly when you live in true you 33:44 33:44 perceive 33:44 33:44 tree option as a citizen 33:48 33:48 um many of us get caught up on things 33:50 33:50 like roads and 33:51 33:51 and services they're very important for 33:53 33:53 us but there's certainly 33:55 33:55 not a decision-making element for 33:58 33:58 for travelers and tourism nobody chooses 33:60 33:60 to go to country because it has good 34:01 34:01 roads 34:02 34:02 it's certainly not the first thing you 34:03 34:03 think about when you when you when you 34:05 34:05 want to 34:05 34:05 plan a trip somewhere we're not sitting 34:07 34:07 at home and say to our partner you know 34:09 34:09 where would you like to go this year 34:10 34:10 well somewhere with really good roads 34:12 34:12 um that inspiration level is where brand 34:15 34:15 sits and that is an emotional 34:17 34:17 um part of your brain that makes that 34:19 34:19 decision to travel somewhere 34:20 34:20 not the rational part of your brain that 34:22 34:22 thinks about roads or even airfares or 34:24 34:24 visas 34:26 34:26 or any of the issues 34:29 34:29 they're important but they're also an 34:31 34:31 assumption that 34:32 34:32 travelers make that the roads will be 34:34 34:34 drivable that things will work while 34:36 34:36 they're there we need to make sure that 34:37 34:37 those things do exist 34:38 34:38 because when they don't that's when you 34:40 34:40 get a negative backlash against 34:42 34:42 businesses and against the destination 34:45 34:45 but it's not the front end of marketing 34:47 34:47 promoting yourself as having good roads 34:49 34:49 is never going to work we're seeing a 34:51 34:51 massive amount of people making mistakes 34:53 34:53 right now in the post covered space with 34:55 34:55 ads saying 34:56 34:56 we're safe i've seen so many today's 34:58 34:58 safe 34:59 34:59 turkey healthy turkey safe india safe 35:02 35:02 that 35:02 35:02 safety is not a marketing message it's 35:04 35:04 an assumption that travelers have 35:07 35:07 if this had been a as we not 35:09 35:09 unfortunately know in sri lanka 35:10 35:10 many destinations i work with we've been 35:12 35:12 through the experience of a terror 35:14 35:14 attack 35:15 35:15 if covert had been in a terror attack 35:17 35:17 would we have marketed ourselves 35:19 35:19 constantly as 35:20 35:20 we're safe our security is amazing we 35:22 35:22 have soldiers in every hotel 35:24 35:24 would we have made ads showing the armed 35:26 35:26 forces and police in our ads 35:27 35:27 never we can't just mark it off the back 35:30 35:30 of safety 35:31 35:31 we can't market off the back of the 35:33 35:33 infrastructure that's not marketing 35:35 35:35 that's an assumption and we make sure 35:36 35:36 that our product development side 35:38 35:38 addresses those issues but we really 35:41 35:41 need the initial emotional inspiration 35:43 35:43 to come to sri lanka and that is to come 35:45 35:45 back to 35:45 35:45 chairwoman kumali's stressing this 35:48 35:48 experience 35:49 35:49 it has to be the positive experience of 35:51 35:51 the destination yes that infrastructure 35:52 35:52 will make sure that it's an easy 35:54 35:54 experience to have 35:55 35:55 but that's not the essence of the 35:57 35:57 experience is the smoothness of the road 35:59 35:59 you're driving on or the 36:00 36:00 or the water supply or how many 36:04 36:04 covered protocols are in a hotel the 36:06 36:06 positive experience the positive 36:08 36:08 emotional response to the destination 36:10 36:10 has to be there also just on that issue 36:14 36:14 we mustn't lose sight of who we are as a 36:16 36:16 destination and what our core values are 36:19 36:19 we talk about nightlife and nightclubs 36:21 36:21 and shopping 36:22 36:22 is that really sri lanka and is that the 36:24 36:24 sri lanka the tourists are looking for 36:26 36:26 you know people talk about the rise of 36:28 36:28 shopping tourism but 36:30 36:30 every donation that markets itself as a 36:32 36:32 shopping destination 36:34 36:34 their biggest competitor isn't another 36:36 36:36 destination their biggest competitor is 36:38 36:38 amazon because no destination is selling 36:40 36:40 any goods as cheap as amazon can 36:43 36:43 um and for someone to travel 36:44 36:44 specifically to a destination just to 36:46 36:46 shop 36:47 36:47 that puts you in league with 36:48 36:48 destinations like dubai well they're 36:50 36:50 wildly successful aren't they 36:51 36:51 are they really their average length of 36:53 36:53 say is 1.5 nights 36:55 36:55 do we want tourists in sri lanka for 36:56 36:56 that length of time 36:59 36:59 they're a stopover or fly-through 37:00 37:00 destination which is where you often 37:02 37:02 find shopping tourism connected to 37:05 37:05 singapore for example moved away from 37:07 37:07 that shopping image when they realized 37:08 37:08 it was extremely limiting 37:10 37:10 um similarly with nightclubs are people 37:12 37:12 really coming to slang because they want 37:13 37:13 to go up to a nightclub 37:15 37:15 is that a core part of the value of the 37:17 37:17 brand 37:18 37:18 we need to make sure that we retain our 37:20 37:20 value of what those experiences are in 37:21 37:21 sri lanka and some of the things that 37:22 37:22 came out in that presentation are 37:24 37:24 definitely there 37:25 37:25 eco-tourism green tourism wellness which 37:27 37:27 is a huge consideration now for people 37:29 37:29 traveling 37:30 37:30 um post covert you know will i be 37:32 37:32 somewhere where i'm relatively spaced 37:33 37:33 where i can go for spa treatments uh 37:36 37:36 where i feel 37:37 37:37 healthier about my travel experience 37:40 37:40 adventure tourism which sri lanka has a 37:41 37:41 huge 37:42 37:42 opportunity for um hiking outdoor 37:45 37:45 activities these are the activities that 37:46 37:46 will appeal to this new market 37:48 37:48 we need to make sure we communicate 37:50 37:50 those the infrastructure the ability to 37:51 37:51 travel is 37:52 37:52 critically important but it's not really 37:54 37:54 part of the brand image it's a traveler 37:57 37:57 assumption thanks thank you damian 37:60 37:60 thanks 38:00 38:00 uh taking a cue from what damian 38:03 38:03 mentioned 38:05 38:05 now this means that everyone is talking 38:07 38:07 about experiences 38:08 38:08 everyone is talking about experiential 38:10 38:10 travel is it 38:12 38:12 is there any any plan from a tourism 38:14 38:14 side to incorporate the experiential for 38:16 38:16 marketing as well as development 38:18 38:18 of such elements so that you know people 38:20 38:20 can really come and experience 38:21 38:21 something unique what damian was talking 38:23 38:23 about 38:24 38:24 absolutely one particular one 38:28 38:28 is the wellness that damien i think 38:30 38:30 mentioned 38:31 38:31 that we are focusing on immediately for 38:33 38:33 obvious reason post coverage 38:35 38:35 so the eu actually has uh is providing 38:38 38:38 us funding for this 38:39 38:39 uh research has been done actually in 38:41 38:41 the german market 38:43 38:43 which is about 90 million people 38:46 38:46 and we are continuing with the 38:47 38:47 additional markets few other markets as 38:50 38:50 well 38:51 38:51 and thereafter we will be going ahead 38:53 38:53 with the procurement process and so on 38:55 38:55 for 38:56 38:56 the promotion angle now it is not only 38:58 38:58 the promotion but also the product 39:01 39:01 so for government actually we create 39:05 39:05 an environment we will market wellness 39:08 39:08 we will promote wellness we will get 39:10 39:10 that across to 39:12 39:12 the global traveler but going forward 39:14 39:14 what needs is that the private sector 39:17 39:17 needs to create the products uh the 39:19 39:19 products is where they give the products 39:20 39:20 and the services 39:22 39:22 so that is something that that we are 39:24 39:24 looking at 39:25 39:25 the adventure is another area that we 39:28 39:28 are looking at in terms of 39:30 39:30 um the the enabling it 39:34 39:34 rather in the registration process and 39:36 39:36 all that 39:38 39:38 now the key area which we are working on 39:39 39:39 is um 39:41 39:41 the film tourism the film tourism is an 39:45 39:45 interesting uh area that 39:48 39:48 lots of films documentaries and so on 39:50 39:50 have come even the last year the years 39:52 39:52 before 39:52 39:52 and we have now created we are in the 39:55 39:55 process of creating a one-stop shop 39:57 39:57 for documentaries and so on so that is 39:60 39:60 another area that 40:01 40:01 uh we are looking at adventure uh 40:04 40:04 wildlife we know 40:05 40:05 uh as you know that we did the couch 40:07 40:07 safari recently with 40:09 40:09 i think our there was about 7 million 40:11 40:11 viewers 40:12 40:12 for the couch safari showing our 40:15 40:15 wildlife to the world so these are 40:18 40:18 things that we are going to do more of 40:20 40:20 for the digital 40:22 40:22 side of it less so on advertisements and 40:26 40:26 what have you and magazines and so on 40:28 40:28 yes we have to be in magazines as well 40:31 40:31 we have to be in magazines as well we 40:32 40:32 have to be in the newspaper and so on 40:34 40:34 we have to balance this out in the past 40:37 40:37 a lot of effort was put in 40:39 40:39 you know being in trade shows and so on 40:43 40:43 now with kovid i suppose most of them 40:45 40:45 are sort of 40:47 40:47 now online we will continue to do that 40:50 40:50 as well 40:51 40:51 and work very closely with the tour 40:53 40:53 operators and the travel agents who have 40:55 40:55 supported us right throughout the years 40:57 40:57 but however we will also go towards the 40:60 40:60 digital side of 41:01 41:01 things and we 41:04 41:04 use this opportunity to reposition 41:08 41:08 um sri lanka i think we this is a great 41:11 41:11 opportunity for us 41:12 41:12 and i think uh we're going to grab that 41:14 41:14 and we're going to look forward for the 41:17 41:17 the private sector really to assist us 41:20 41:20 thank you very much uh it's it's a 41:22 41:22 combination of 41:23 41:23 um all stakeholders that should 41:25 41:25 co-create the image of the destination 41:28 41:28 um damien i'll just move on to before i 41:30 41:30 go into uh jean 41:32 41:32 you know morgan and are petra known 41:34 41:34 academics in destination marketing 41:36 41:36 they've made something very interesting 41:38 41:38 as early as 2002 according to the 41:39 41:39 research 41:41 41:41 report this is you know there are 41:45 41:45 many destinations have similar amenities 41:47 41:47 and offers 41:48 41:48 such as excellent five star resorts 41:51 41:51 hotels 41:52 41:52 stunning beautiful attractions unique 41:54 41:54 outlets 41:55 41:55 heritage and thereby making its very 41:58 41:58 very difficult 41:59 41:59 to differentiate and the differentiation 42:01 42:01 is becoming less effective 42:03 42:03 now in a in a marketplace uh cluttered 42:06 42:06 as such that everyone is claiming 42:08 42:08 something unique 42:09 42:09 and then but it is not unique what 42:11 42:11 should be the strategy of sri lanka 42:13 42:13 tourism 42:13 42:13 to get project something unique at the 42:16 42:16 pre-arrival stage 42:18 42:18 so that our conversions can be much 42:20 42:20 better i remember in 2010 when the 42:22 42:22 global research that was done 42:24 42:24 our awareness was at the destinations 42:25 42:25 around 100 42:27 42:27 but when it came to actual purchase from 42:29 42:29 a known macho destination such as uk 42:32 42:32 it came down to one percent so damon can 42:34 42:34 you i mean you were talking about the 42:36 42:36 importance of of experiences in this 42:39 42:39 context of destination differentiation 42:42 42:42 and adding that into the communication 42:43 42:43 strategies for the image can improve 42:45 42:45 can you name few specific things that 42:48 42:48 can be uh 42:49 42:49 incorporated into our overall strategy 42:53 42:53 sure i don't want to keep hopping back 42:55 42:55 to this thing to the same point but 42:57 42:57 again it relates here again 42:59 42:59 the actual character the unique 43:01 43:01 attributes of sri lanka are absolutely 43:03 43:03 essential because you're right there is 43:04 43:04 a lot of replication in destination 43:07 43:07 um marketing that we see the same sort 43:10 43:10 of material being used the same 43:11 43:11 sort of image that the couple clicking 43:14 43:14 their glasses and 43:15 43:15 in front of a sunset um those sort of 43:17 43:17 generic experiences 43:20 43:20 when we work on a destination strategy 43:22 43:22 we always 43:24 43:24 start at the very basic level of an 43:26 43:26 audit of products what is available in 43:28 43:28 sri lanka 43:30 43:30 you then look at destinations that have 43:32 43:32 other com 43:33 43:33 similar products or experiences and you 43:36 43:36 look for 43:37 43:37 what is the competing edge that sri 43:38 43:38 lanka has against those destinations 43:40 43:40 against those experiences 43:42 43:42 from that you start to get some 43:43 43:43 marketing values um 43:45 43:45 why is why is your wellness product 43:48 43:48 different to wellness 43:50 43:50 experiences in bali or other similar uh 43:53 43:53 destinations why is your wildlife 43:54 43:54 tourism different to 43:56 43:56 the wildlife experience in africa it's 43:58 43:58 very different but how and from that you 43:60 43:60 start to 44:01 44:01 develop those unique attributes once you 44:03 44:03 get those attributes that are purely sri 44:05 44:05 lankan particularly those related to 44:07 44:07 things that only 44:08 44:08 exist in sri lanka you know they're not 44:10 44:10 going to find 44:11 44:11 sigiriya in another country they're not 44:13 44:13 going to find dambulla in another 44:14 44:14 country 44:15 44:15 you start to get a sense of those unique 44:16 44:16 experiences and those unique offerings 44:19 44:19 so as you move up the pyramid from what 44:20 44:20 makes a destination what makes us a 44:23 44:23 tourism destination to what makes us a 44:25 44:25 competitive tourism destination 44:27 44:27 the very peak is what makes us unique 44:28 44:28 and that peak of that pyramid is where 44:30 44:30 you find your brand 44:32 44:32 and that's where you you conduct your 44:34 44:34 branding exercises what is the unique 44:37 44:37 character that you have and it has to be 44:40 44:40 about 44:40 44:40 what is uniquely sri lankan and what 44:42 44:42 those positive attributes that you 44:44 44:44 genuinely have at a cultural level at a 44:47 44:47 natural level at an attraction level 44:49 44:49 are um you know i i'm 44:52 44:52 when destinations always when i hear 44:54 44:54 destinations say things like we could be 44:56 44:56 the next dubai 44:57 44:57 well how about you be the current sri 44:59 44:59 lanka or the current destination that 45:01 45:01 you are but the best 45:02 45:02 the best sri lanka that you can be and 45:04 45:04 sell what it is that you 45:05 45:05 that you're uniquely offering um and 45:08 45:08 also 45:09 45:09 it it's about valuing those unique 45:11 45:11 experiences as well that's a critical 45:13 45:13 part always of the destination marketing 45:14 45:14 equation 45:16 45:16 i've seen some of the comments coming 45:17 45:17 through here where people said you know 45:19 45:19 we should reduce our prices 45:20 45:20 to bring tourism back post covert that's 45:23 45:23 a mistake 45:24 45:24 um the the worst thing that could happen 45:26 45:26 to tourism 45:27 45:27 emerging from covert is a race to the 45:29 45:29 bottom as it's called of 45:32 45:32 are on price if if if you have so many 45:36 45:36 thousand 45:36 45:36 rooms in sri lanka that you can't fill 45:38 45:38 well maybe 45:39 45:39 we will kill them in the next year or 45:41 45:41 two but let's reduce the numbers that we 45:43 45:43 have in terms of offering but increase 45:45 45:45 the prices so that we meet that reduced 45:48 45:48 demand with a higher value supply and 45:50 45:50 find the right equilibrium 45:51 45:51 to actually restore the economy the 45:54 45:54 tourism economy and make sure that we've 45:56 45:56 got sufficient investment and revenue 45:59 45:59 in building up and improving rather than 46:01 46:01 a damaging 46:02 46:02 price war so i think it's about 46:05 46:05 that competitive edge not just at price 46:08 46:08 but in terms of brand value pushing 46:10 46:10 those unique attributes 46:11 46:11 and making sure that you value it um and 46:14 46:14 and make sure that it's a brand 46:15 46:15 value in terms of the values of the 46:17 46:17 destination your beliefs your culture 46:19 46:19 that view and the financial value as 46:21 46:21 well 46:22 46:22 thanks thank you damian thank you those 46:25 46:25 who are joining just now uh 46:27 46:27 please on zoom please you can actually 46:30 46:30 share your questions uh go to the chat 46:32 46:32 function q a 46:33 46:33 box and then send us the questions we'll 46:35 46:35 be actually taking those questions in 46:37 46:37 the last 20 minutes 46:38 46:38 of this webinar and if you also can go 46:40 46:40 to your facebook 46:42 46:42 or you can ask your questions via 46:43 46:43 slider.com using the hashtag 46:46 46:46 sri lankan tourism so we'll be uh panel 46:48 46:48 will be actually more delighted to 46:49 46:49 answer some of the questions 46:51 46:51 so with that i will just move on to john 46:53 46:53 um john 46:55 46:55 it says that 3s products is 46:57 46:57 traditionally known as csun 46:58 46:58 csan and sun are becoming easily 47:01 47:01 replaceable 47:03 47:03 and the differentiation of those 47:05 47:05 products are becoming 47:07 47:07 more and more difficult at the moment 47:09 47:09 but if you look at sri lanka 47:10 47:10 as an island primarily the sri lankan 47:13 47:13 numbers are 47:14 47:14 more into 3s products than otherwise if 47:16 47:16 you look at it 47:19 47:19 only about 28 or 29 percent of the 47:21 47:21 arrivals goes to elephant orphanage or 47:23 47:23 at least candy area 47:24 47:24 only about 30 percent goes to sigiriya 47:26 47:26 national parks around 16 percent 47:28 47:28 of the total arrivals so the 47:30 47:30 predominantly the 47:31 47:31 our 60 percent of the travelers are 47:33 47:33 still in the coastal area 47:35 47:35 more than 70 percent of our 47:37 47:37 accommodation is also in the coastal 47:39 47:39 area 47:40 47:40 so which means that sri lanka is now 47:42 47:42 still 47:43 47:43 serving as a 3-h product predominantly 47:46 47:46 selling its beaches etc 47:48 47:48 do you think that we should uh 47:51 47:51 deviate from this strategy or is there 47:54 47:54 any dual strategy or any other 47:56 47:56 action that you know we need to uh 47:58 47:58 pursue from a communication perspective 48:00 48:00 using 48:01 48:01 considering the product that we have in 48:03 48:03 hand what's your view on it 48:10 48:10 well i think again i'll just come back 48:12 48:12 to what damian's already said without 48:13 48:13 wanting to hammer 48:14 48:14 the point too much it really comes down 48:16 48:16 to differentiation 48:18 48:18 look c and sand is still important but 48:21 48:21 many other destinations offer that 48:23 48:23 so it's not to say you ignore it and you 48:26 48:26 stop serving that part of the market if 48:27 48:27 there's still a market there that wants 48:29 48:29 to come 48:29 48:29 to sri lanka for that it's a question of 48:32 48:32 finding the other things which 48:33 48:33 which competing destinations don't offer 48:36 48:36 and can't offer 48:37 48:37 and as damian said that's that's where 48:39 48:39 you concentrate your marketing efforts 48:41 48:41 and when it comes to communicating the 48:43 48:43 the experiences that you can offer 48:46 48:46 when you're looking at the millennial 48:48 48:48 market 48:49 48:49 and as damian said that the market is 48:51 48:51 changing it's about what the millennial 48:52 48:52 travelers 48:53 48:53 now want and how they consume and how 48:56 48:56 they receive 48:56 48:56 information whenever they receive it now 48:58 48:58 is online 48:60 48:60 primarily they're looking you need to 49:01 49:01 look at two facets of that 49:03 49:03 one is content content is going to be 49:06 49:06 the core of any communication strategy 49:08 49:08 that might be video content 49:09 49:09 it might be you know graphic content 49:11 49:11 photographs etc 49:13 49:13 but content is really where it's at and 49:14 49:14 it's got to be really compelling 49:17 49:17 content it's got to draw eyeballs it's 49:19 49:19 got to be something that people want to 49:20 49:20 look at 49:21 49:21 and want to share um because that that's 49:24 49:24 how that's how that's how 49:26 49:26 you now amplify your messages online the 49:29 49:29 second thing is word of mouth 49:31 49:31 the single most important and powerful 49:33 49:33 form of marketing 49:34 49:34 is word of mouth i mean look at why why 49:36 49:36 do you think tripadvisor 49:38 49:38 is is so important so when people come 49:40 49:40 to sri lanka 49:41 49:41 and they come for an experience and 49:43 49:43 they've had a good experience 49:45 49:45 they will talk about it they will post 49:47 49:47 the photographs they'll post their 49:48 49:48 comments 49:49 49:49 they will they will show people they'll 49:50 49:50 show all their friends what they've been 49:51 49:51 doing 49:52 49:52 that's what you want you want that kind 49:54 49:54 of positive that word of mouth going out 49:56 49:56 there 49:57 49:57 now one way of doing that is to attract 49:59 49:59 people who have a large following 50:01 50:01 so that when they share content their 50:04 50:04 own content online 50:05 50:05 it's seen by a lot of people and 50:06 50:06 specifically the demographics the parts 50:09 50:09 of the audience that you want to reach 50:11 50:11 so what i'm talking about here is 50:13 50:13 developing an influencer strategy 50:15 50:15 now if you look at your near neighbors 50:17 50:17 in the maldives for example 50:19 50:19 and they spend a lot of time and effort 50:21 50:21 on an influencer strategy 50:22 50:22 now you can quibble about the type of 50:24 50:24 influences they choose 50:26 50:26 but they for example when they're 50:27 50:27 targeting the uk market 50:29 50:29 as we saw where we did some training 50:31 50:31 with the recently with sltda 50:33 50:33 and we looked at some examples of the 50:35 50:35 kind of influences that they've that 50:37 50:37 they've chosen to work with 50:38 50:38 they are what you might call politely 50:40 50:40 zed left z-level 50:42 50:42 zed-list celebrities but nonetheless 50:44 50:44 they are people who have a large 50:45 50:45 following their models and actresses and 50:47 50:47 whatever 50:48 50:48 but they have a lot of people who follow 50:49 50:49 them and who look at what they're doing 50:51 50:51 and so they invite those people to the 50:53 50:53 maldives and they show them 50:54 50:54 they're enjoying the beaches and 50:56 50:56 enjoying the the the other attractions 50:58 50:58 that maldi's has and it gets a lot of 50:60 50:60 play 51:01 51:01 so look at look at and influence a 51:03 51:03 strategy 51:05 51:05 but make sure that that strategy is 51:07 51:07 aligned with the specific 51:08 51:08 audiences that you're trying to target 51:10 51:10 and the people who want to come to sri 51:12 51:12 lanka 51:14 51:14 to sample your wellness product for 51:15 51:15 example who want to look at 51:17 51:17 your wildlife and in some cases who want 51:20 51:20 to come and experience 51:21 51:21 and summon c and sound those are very 51:23 51:23 different uh different market 51:25 51:25 uh segments and so you need to choose 51:28 51:28 influencers who will 51:29 51:29 allow you to engage through them with 51:31 51:31 those 51:32 51:32 the people who want to do that so i'll 51:36 51:36 um i hope that's answered your question 51:37 51:37 but i'll 51:38 51:38 i'll uh i'll take it back to you 51:42 51:42 okay john thank you very much that and 51:43 51:43 that gives you a clarity on that 51:45 51:45 particular question 51:46 51:46 um damien i will move on to that 51:49 51:49 question again back to you so this is 51:51 51:51 the time that we are looking at 51:53 51:53 almost a post covered communication 51:55 51:55 strategy 51:56 51:56 in a post covet destination 51:58 51:58 communication strategy 51:60 52:00 do you think you should completely be 52:01 52:01 different from what destination been 52:03 52:03 doing in the past 52:04 52:04 especially with regards to your 52:06 52:06 positioning statement and how do you 52:07 52:07 want to question we talked about 52:08 52:08 the experiences we talked about the 52:10 52:10 millennials we talked about 52:12 52:12 uh creating something unique for sri 52:14 52:14 lanka etc so we covered all that in 52:15 52:15 detail 52:16 52:16 but do you think in developing uh 52:18 52:18 advertising communication strategy on a 52:20 52:20 post kovida 52:22 52:22 that is there anything special or any 52:24 52:24 elements that we should look in 52:26 52:26 what we didn't look at before or has it 52:27 52:27 completely changed 52:30 52:30 i think i mean it's it's it's obviously 52:32 52:32 what everybody is talking about now 52:34 52:34 firstly it's getting a sense of what 52:36 52:36 this recovery is going to look like 52:38 52:38 um we can't fall into false optimism 52:41 52:41 there's been a lot of that in the last 52:42 52:42 week where everyone sees the the vaccine 52:44 52:44 is here 52:44 52:44 but we need to look at how realistic it 52:46 52:46 is in terms of timing of the 52:49 52:49 actual access of that vaccine to the 52:51 52:51 most of the world's population 52:53 52:53 um in the in the eu they're still 52:56 52:56 talking about q3 of next year the us 52:58 52:58 is still talking about q3 of next year 52:60 52:60 by the time they get through all the 53:01 53:01 approvals required in systems um 53:04 53:04 the uk obviously through brexit has 53:05 53:05 managed to separate themselves and go a 53:06 53:06 bit early but still there's 53:08 53:08 time needed for the general population 53:11 53:11 to have it but also what we forget is 53:13 53:13 it's not just the population those 53:15 53:15 countries it's the countries they're 53:16 53:16 going to travel to 53:17 53:17 um that need where people need to be 53:19 53:19 vaccinated as well 53:20 53:20 um against risk facility when it comes 53:22 53:22 to the quarantine element so we need to 53:23 53:23 be realistic in terms of time frame for 53:25 53:25 recovery we're not talking about every 53:28 53:28 accident 53:29 53:29 christmas will be back to normal by 53:31 53:31 january that's 53:32 53:32 never going to happen but what is most 53:35 53:35 important 53:36 53:36 you started itself to leap by talking 53:38 53:38 about there being a light at the end of 53:40 53:40 the tunnel with the vaccine 53:41 53:41 yes there is but the thing about tunnels 53:43 53:43 is as i always say 53:46 53:46 you come out in a different place than 53:47 53:47 where you went in we are never going 53:50 53:50 back 53:50 53:50 to 2019. um as i said those changes were 53:54 53:54 already there in 2019 the 53:56 53:56 impact of the millennial markets the 53:58 53:58 breakdown of mass tourism was already 53:60 54:00 happening 54:02 54:02 where there is a massive risk is if 54:05 54:05 we try and bring back mass tourism 54:09 54:09 first whether or not even it has a 54:11 54:11 future is questionable given the change 54:13 54:13 marks 54:14 54:14 but if you want to reassure 54:18 54:18 every single market that could fill 54:20 54:20 packaged hotels or meet the needs of 54:23 54:23 mass tourism you'll be waiting a very 54:24 54:24 long time 54:26 54:26 but you have millennial younger 54:28 54:28 risk-averse 54:29 54:29 niche travelers so less risk-averse 54:32 54:32 needs travelers who are ready to travel 54:33 54:33 now 54:34 54:34 who are ready to come as soon as you 54:35 54:35 open and by targeting them and giving 54:37 54:37 them the experiences that they 54:38 54:38 want um you're going to start to grow 54:40 54:40 back tourism so 54:41 54:41 it again and i'm sorry john and i keep 54:43 54:43 coming back to the same points it's 54:44 54:44 about 54:45 54:45 segmenting those markets specializing on 54:48 54:48 those niches 54:49 54:49 it can't be one big brand sri lanka save 54:51 54:51 sri lanka's open comeback message 54:53 54:53 we cannot fall into trying to meet the 54:56 54:56 needs of the mass tourism market 54:58 54:58 that means a lot of partnership and 54:60 54:60 engagement with your industry to make 55:01 55:01 them 55:02 55:02 understand that too we can't let people 55:05 55:05 dwell in fantasy 55:06 55:06 we're not going to fill thousands of 55:08 55:08 hotel beds 55:10 55:10 in the in next year we have to be 55:13 55:13 realistic about what's 55:14 55:14 likely to come back businesses may have 55:17 55:17 to downsize may have to scale down 55:19 55:19 but as i said reassess their value and 55:21 55:21 increase their pricing 55:23 55:23 to sell less rooms more space better 55:25 55:25 experiences 55:26 55:26 at a higher value so 55:29 55:29 it's a communication strategy yes but we 55:31 55:31 also need a management strategy in the 55:33 55:33 destination to make sure 55:35 55:35 that we have a realistic ability to 55:38 55:38 to revive the tourism economy and 55:40 55:40 understand that we're dealing with 55:42 55:42 different markets 55:43 55:43 we can't keep falling back on those old 55:46 55:46 models at a communications level 55:48 55:48 you know print ads television 55:50 55:50 commercials 55:51 55:51 at a management level trade shows i 55:53 55:53 still hear people talking about you know 55:54 55:54 what are we going to do about 55:56 55:56 you know our trade trade shows are gone 55:58 55:58 they'll be no wtm 55:59 55:59 no itb no itb next year um 56:02 56:02 most of them have shifted online and 56:04 56:04 they if you've been attending them they 56:05 56:05 don't really work 56:06 56:06 because you're taking a trade show model 56:09 56:09 and trying to transfer it into the 56:10 56:10 internet and by and large 56:11 56:11 doesn't work as it's the money today 56:14 56:14 it's a bit like when cars replaced 56:16 56:16 horses you climb on the roof of the car 56:18 56:18 and say 56:18 56:18 giddy up it doesn't work um things 56:22 56:22 new world and we can't just take those 56:24 56:24 old models and try and recreate them 56:26 56:26 so there's a massive amount of 56:27 56:27 rethinking and revisioning that has to 56:29 56:29 happen at a strategic level 56:31 56:31 as you look towards a recovery campaign 56:33 56:33 it cannot just be 56:35 56:35 let's go back to 2019 because as much as 56:37 56:37 some businesses want that 56:39 56:39 all that wanting is not going to change 56:42 56:42 reality 56:42 56:42 as uh the current occupant of the white 56:44 56:44 house is learning you can't fight 56:46 56:46 reality and you can't fight change when 56:48 56:48 it's knocking on your door 56:49 56:49 um and as the market reopens that's what 56:52 56:52 we're going to see we're going to see a 56:53 56:53 new 56:54 56:54 travel market and a new um travel 56:56 56:56 marketplace that we need to be active in 56:59 56:59 so let's make sure that you've got the 57:01 57:01 right experiences at the right value 57:03 57:03 targeted to those right right customers 57:05 57:05 thanks 57:06 57:06 thank you damian thanks krimalia 57:09 57:09 different question to you now 57:10 57:10 we come for these webinars and we tell 57:12 57:12 all these things and you know we talked 57:13 57:13 about it in detail 57:15 57:15 and the end of the day somebody has to 57:16 57:16 do the work that somebody is unfortunate 57:18 57:18 your fortunate is you 57:20 57:20 so what are the barriers and the and the 57:23 57:23 difficulties that you see 57:25 57:25 especially considering that sri lanka 57:26 57:26 actually even the last so many years 57:28 57:28 had really faced the uh difficulty of 57:31 57:31 coming out with the integrated campaign 57:33 57:33 you yourself mentioned at the beginning 57:35 57:35 of the discussion and 57:36 57:36 there would have been reasons for that 57:38 57:38 as well you know for over a decade 57:39 57:39 we would not be compared to thailand 57:41 57:41 malaysia india 57:42 57:42 and we were not being able to see 57:46 57:46 and as a result you know the research 57:47 57:47 very clearly came out and said that 57:49 57:49 we were not being able to establish the 57:51 57:51 true image of sri lanka at the 57:53 57:53 arrival stage what is the the game plan 57:57 57:57 for you 57:57 57:57 to overcome this and then what is kind 57:60 57:60 of a role and a support that you need 58:01 58:01 for your stakeholders 58:02 58:02 we have private sector we have academics 58:04 58:04 etc so how do i know it's not something 58:06 58:06 you can do alone 58:07 58:07 so what's your game plan and what 58:08 58:08 support you need to make it a reality 58:10 58:10 after kovid 58:12 58:12 yeah thank you dilip yes for the last 10 58:15 58:15 years it couldn't be done because it's 58:17 58:17 tough the procedures 58:20 58:20 we have to follow government procurement 58:22 58:22 procedures 58:24 58:24 which you know is very cumbersome 58:26 58:26 however the good news is that we've got 58:28 58:28 the cabinet approval early on just 58:31 58:31 before kovit 58:32 58:32 for a five year integrated campaign 58:36 58:36 we have already completed all the terms 58:38 58:38 of reference 58:40 58:40 and now it is going to the tech 58:41 58:41 committee 58:43 58:43 so the tech committee consists of 58:46 58:46 government servants who have 58:48 58:48 experience in the those particular 58:50 58:50 fields 58:51 58:51 so we will be having the tech committee 58:53 58:53 meeting actually next week 58:55 58:55 that's the good news however the 58:57 58:57 challenge is a little bit that the 58:59 58:59 government procedures the tender 59:01 59:01 procedures and so on 59:03 59:03 um you know it's not always 59:07 59:07 doesn't cater for promotion so it's not 59:10 59:10 like building a road or something where 59:12 59:12 you can say so many kilometers or 59:13 59:13 whatever so 59:14 59:14 the procedures are a little bit not 59:16 59:16 catering for us having said that 59:19 59:19 um what we do internally is that we 59:22 59:22 network through the government system 59:24 59:24 to to try to get things done because if 59:28 59:28 you just follow procedures 59:30 59:30 i mean just wait for it to happen so 59:33 59:33 what we do is we 59:34 59:34 talk to various people in the government 59:35 59:35 to get it fast-tracked 59:37 59:37 from the private sector perspective i 59:40 59:40 mean the product 59:41 59:41 and service is with you guys all right 59:44 59:44 so i would appeal to all of you 59:48 59:48 while we do the promotion side of it 59:50 59:50 whether it is the global promotion 59:52 59:52 campaign which will implement 59:54 59:54 early next year or whether we go on um 59:58 59:58 on live streaming or any of these 60:01 60:01 activities 60:02 60:02 support us uh you know there's some of 60:05 60:05 you who 60:06 60:06 are not willing to accept the change i 60:08 60:08 think 60:09 60:09 and um you know we will help you we will 60:12 60:12 partner you 60:13 60:13 uh there are certain areas that you will 60:15 60:15 have dealing with government's 60:17 60:17 issues in terms of trying to get 60:19 60:19 approvals or get things done 60:22 60:22 reach out to us we will help you through 60:24 60:24 any kind of 60:25 60:25 issues that you have now there are lots 60:27 60:27 of regulations that were there for the 60:29 60:29 last 20 30 years which 60:31 60:31 this year alone we relooked and changed 60:35 60:35 several of them that's one of the 60:36 60:36 reasons that the increase in 60:38 60:38 registration went up 60:39 60:39 from the informal sector of the former 60:41 60:41 sector by about 34 60:43 60:43 so we are here to the whole process of 60:46 60:46 this government is to it's a 60:47 60:47 people-centric economy 60:49 60:49 so people-centric tourism um 60:53 60:53 we are supposed to re-engineer all the 60:55 60:55 processes which we are going through 60:56 60:56 internal 60:57 60:57 sort of procedures we have gone through 60:59 60:59 technology is now being used everything 61:01 61:01 is now online 61:02 61:02 in terms of registration uh we some of 61:05 61:05 you may already know that we've already 61:07 61:07 created a mobile the first 61:08 61:08 tourism mobile app in the history of 61:10 61:10 tourism 61:12 61:12 that has already been made with the 61:13 61:13 support of undp 61:15 61:15 that will be incorporated into the 61:18 61:18 immigration application form 61:20 61:20 that would cater for the kobe kind of 61:23 61:23 protocol requirements really 61:26 61:26 and then the next version which already 61:28 61:28 the terms of reference are done 61:30 61:30 that would include all the 4956 sites 61:33 61:33 that we have identified 61:36 61:36 the emergency button to the police 61:39 61:39 you know camping hiking all that 61:42 61:42 we will have the content actually adb 61:45 61:45 has kindly agreed to 61:47 61:47 do the content management content side 61:49 61:49 of it 61:50 61:50 and the world bank uh on the technical 61:53 61:53 side 61:54 61:54 so from the private sector perspective 61:57 61:57 i'm saying 61:57 61:57 you know we have 52 associations uh not 62:01 62:01 everybody sort of 62:02 62:02 is on the same page but by in a way 62:05 62:05 that's 62:05 62:05 the way the industry will work but there 62:08 62:08 is 62:09 62:09 obviously push and pull but overall i 62:12 62:12 appeal to all of you in the private 62:14 62:14 sector 62:15 62:15 please support the government embrace 62:18 62:18 the change that 62:19 62:19 frankly we are forced to make i think 62:23 62:23 john and damien had very eloquently 62:24 62:24 explained i think we don't really have a 62:27 62:27 choice in 62:28 62:28 what we have to do going forward in 62:30 62:30 terms of digital marketing the 62:32 62:32 experiences 62:33 62:33 not sort of competing with each other on 62:36 62:36 pricing 62:37 62:37 but to compete on products and something 62:39 62:39 different come up with 62:41 62:41 you know sustainable side of it i mean 62:43 62:43 we've actually changed the guideline 62:45 62:45 the new projects going forward for sri 62:47 62:47 lanka tourism would include a 62:48 62:48 sustainable 62:50 62:50 element of it whether it's renewable 62:52 62:52 energy or 62:53 62:53 whether it is recycling of water zero 62:56 62:56 plastic 62:56 62:56 and so on we are working with cultural 62:59 62:59 fund now we have just initiated the 63:01 63:01 discussion to make um 63:04 63:04 sigiriya the first sustainable 63:06 63:06 destination in sri lanka 63:08 63:08 and yala palu tupana to look at a 63:10 63:10 conservancy like in 63:12 63:12 east africa actually so from the 63:14 63:14 government's perspective 63:16 63:16 you know despite kobe a lot has been 63:19 63:19 done 63:20 63:20 and we will continue to do that and 63:23 63:23 i look to every single member of the 63:25 63:25 private sector 63:26 63:26 whether it is a big company because 63:28 63:28 majority of our tourism 63:30 63:30 industry is about 88 percent is smes so 63:33 63:33 all 63:33 63:33 each and every one of you in the sme 63:35 63:35 sector the larger companies 63:37 63:37 the tour guides uh which we actually 63:39 63:39 improving the training and so on 63:41 63:41 actually the initiation has started on 63:42 63:42 that 63:43 63:43 the drivers and everybody who is 63:45 63:45 directly and indirectly 63:46 63:46 involved in tourism please 63:50 63:50 help us to make this change and anytime 63:53 63:53 reach out to us we are there to help you 63:56 63:56 through any any any issues that you have 63:59 63:59 we are always there to help you thank 64:02 64:02 you 64:03 64:03 thank you there's a lot of questions 64:04 64:04 coming in but we'll take it later 64:06 64:06 um since we have a little uh limitation 64:09 64:09 in the time 64:10 64:10 damien i'll just uh sorry john i will 64:11 64:11 get into uh basically another question 64:13 64:13 for you 64:14 64:14 um the importance of brand health 64:16 64:16 studies 64:17 64:17 you know in a commercial brand we also 64:19 64:19 do it what we call annual brand health 64:21 64:21 studies 64:22 64:22 what people are looking at it you know 64:23 64:23 what the perceptions are and this is the 64:25 64:25 first time i think after about 10 years 64:27 64:27 that such a study has been done 64:29 64:29 uh for sri lanka brand is to understand 64:31 64:31 where we are 64:32 64:32 how important such brand health related 64:34 64:34 studies 64:35 64:35 and what would be the frequency that we 64:38 64:38 should conduct such studies so that it 64:39 64:39 can actually bring 64:41 64:41 elements into the proposed campaign 64:44 64:44 well that that's a that's a a good 64:46 64:46 question i think i'll answer in a 64:47 64:47 slightly different way which is to say 64:49 64:49 that 64:50 64:50 research is very important because you 64:52 64:52 need to understand the audiences and 64:53 64:53 what they want 64:54 64:54 and how they're reacting to what you're 64:56 64:56 saying and the 64:58 64:58 the content that you're sharing with 64:59 64:59 them um in terms of brand health studies 65:01 65:01 i mean 65:02 65:02 i would lump that in together because 65:04 65:04 when you say when you say that the brand 65:05 65:05 health studies about how are we doing 65:07 65:07 it's about how we're doing with these 65:08 65:08 audiences how are they actually viewing 65:10 65:10 us 65:11 65:11 and the experiences that we're offering 65:12 65:12 them i think the bedrock of any of any 65:15 65:15 communication campaign any marketing 65:16 65:16 campaign 65:17 65:17 is identifying as i've said before who 65:19 65:19 is it that you're actually trying to 65:20 65:20 reach what do you want to to know to 65:22 65:22 think to feel to do 65:25 65:25 and then also to benchmark uh your 65:28 65:28 effectiveness by doing research 65:30 65:30 into what are the impressions now and 65:32 65:32 then repeat that 65:33 65:33 periodically during the course of the 65:35 65:35 campaign not just at the end of it 65:37 65:37 to see what's working what's not how are 65:39 65:39 they actually responding to it 65:41 65:41 um so i think research is it's very very 65:44 65:44 important 65:44 65:44 i'll come back to another point that 65:46 65:46 just that um kamali uh 65:48 65:48 made a moment ago about delivering 65:52 65:52 the experience actually making sure that 65:54 65:54 you're following through on the promises 65:55 65:55 that you're making 65:56 65:56 so when you're talking about the quality 65:58 65:58 of experiences you can offer 65:60 65:60 that in fact when people come to sri 66:01 66:01 lanka and they experience uh those 66:04 66:04 destinations or those products 66:06 66:06 and they actually are are experiencing 66:09 66:09 something as good as 66:11 66:11 if not better than they were led to 66:13 66:13 expect not something that that didn't 66:14 66:14 work 66:15 66:15 or that wasn't up to their expectation 66:17 66:17 because just as word of mouth can work 66:19 66:19 for you in a very positive way 66:21 66:21 it can also do the opposite and so if 66:23 66:23 people come to sri lanka and they have a 66:25 66:25 poor experience 66:26 66:26 they will then share the results of that 66:27 66:27 poor experience with all their followers 66:29 66:29 online 66:30 66:30 therefore undermining uh the efforts 66:32 66:32 that you're trying to make 66:34 66:34 so authenticity is key actually 66:36 66:36 delivering on the promises that you're 66:37 66:37 making 66:38 66:38 and under understanding what it is that 66:40 66:40 the audience on audiences want 66:42 66:42 and then how they're actually responding 66:44 66:44 uh to the messaging that you're 66:45 66:45 delivering 66:46 66:46 i hope that answers the question 66:50 66:50 yes sir very very clear um damian 66:53 66:53 there is in the research um the the it 66:56 66:56 talks about 66:57 66:57 two aspects of images one is basically 66:60 66:60 what they call it actually um 67:02 67:02 the how the images are formed and 67:05 67:05 one is through your conscious effort of 67:07 67:07 advertising 67:08 67:08 uh your marketing pr activities etc so 67:11 67:11 conscious effect of making the 67:13 67:13 advertising or the promotion 67:15 67:15 so generally which is what we call the 67:16 67:16 paid advertising by the nto 67:19 67:19 and the the second one which is actually 67:21 67:21 more organic 67:22 67:22 in nature so the the two types of uh 67:25 67:25 of images that you're looking at it so 67:28 67:28 the one is induced image the other one 67:30 67:30 is we call 67:30 67:30 organic image based on the research now 67:35 67:35 we know that the most of the organic 67:36 67:36 images are coming from natural instinct 67:38 67:38 natural behavior of tourists and we also 67:41 67:41 know that the role which 67:42 67:42 the lot of flash packers or sometimes 67:44 67:44 the backpackers who play a role 67:46 67:46 in creating this organic content that is 67:48 67:48 required for the destination also 67:51 67:51 on the other hand we run some expensive 67:52 67:52 campaigns and you also mentioned that 67:55 67:55 the future of travel fares is actually 67:57 67:57 going to be very bleak in the future 67:58 67:58 i know the itb is canceled wtm has also 68:01 68:01 cancelled 68:02 68:02 and more people are moving to the 68:03 68:03 digital uh 68:05 68:05 arena and then how is the gun work so 68:07 68:07 and and also a destination 68:09 68:09 from sri lanka's perspective there was a 68:11 68:11 heavy focus 68:12 68:12 on b2b a lot of travel fares that you 68:14 68:14 know took a lot of money was spent 68:16 68:16 and that was the strategy that i've been 68:17 68:17 there for the last five six years 68:19 68:19 and then a lot of campaigns oriented 68:21 68:21 once etc so from a 68:23 68:23 destination image creation perspective 68:26 68:26 looking at the research what they're 68:28 68:28 coming out of this where it's basically 68:30 68:30 induced versus organic image can we 68:33 68:33 strike a balance between the two 68:35 68:35 and which one is more important than the 68:37 68:37 others and do we actually can't really 68:40 68:40 create uh one than compared to the other 68:44 68:44 which is more cost effective 68:47 68:47 that's a really good question um to 68:50 68:50 answer that i just 68:51 68:51 put it this way and i'm sure many of our 68:54 68:54 many of the audience are tourist 68:56 68:56 business people here 68:58 68:58 let's rewind back some years 69:02 69:02 if someone in sri lanka wanted to market 69:04 69:04 their hotel 69:05 69:05 for example they would have hired a 69:07 69:07 marketing firm to do that 69:09 69:09 those guys would have charged them to 69:12 69:12 come to their hotel with a 69:13 69:13 professional photographer who would have 69:15 69:15 paid for every photo that was taken 69:17 69:17 to show the rooms to show the view to 69:19 69:19 show the experiences there the food 69:21 69:21 everything 69:23 69:23 you would then have bought media bought 69:25 69:25 channels to put that content into to get 69:27 69:27 brochures into people's hands to put a 69:29 69:29 television commercials on tv 69:31 69:31 and to put billboards up and you have no 69:33 69:33 idea how many people saw those 69:34 69:34 um except maybe the viewership of it or 69:36 69:36 readership of a magazine you don't know 69:38 69:38 how many people actually saw that ad 69:40 69:40 and you would have paid for that whole 69:41 69:41 process marketing company 69:43 69:43 their ideas for their taking the photos 69:46 69:46 for their publication of that content 69:48 69:48 online 69:50 69:50 the mindset that we need to understand 69:52 69:52 is you currently have guests coming to 69:54 69:54 your 69:54 69:54 hotels who are paying you the first 69:56 69:56 thing they do on arrival when they see 69:58 69:58 how beautiful your hotel is is take 69:59 69:59 out their phone start taking photos of 70:01 70:01 it and they make sure it's the best 70:02 70:02 possible photo 70:04 70:04 that they can take um 70:07 70:07 they then take that those photos because 70:09 70:09 they want to brag and show off to their 70:11 70:11 friends and they post them 70:13 70:13 so they put them into a media channel 70:15 70:15 the same they used to pay for 70:17 70:17 for free they expose them on average 70:20 70:20 to 200 people each think about that 70:23 70:23 multiplied by all of your thousands of 70:24 70:24 tourists 70:25 70:25 to people who don't feel they're being 70:27 70:27 sold to they're not seeing ads they're 70:28 70:28 seeing genuine content from 70:29 70:29 family and friends and they're 70:30 70:30 responding to that 70:33 70:33 that simple shift has revolutionized the 70:36 70:36 world of marketing 70:37 70:37 but we're very slow to understand this 70:39 70:39 because we don't see it 70:40 70:40 when it's happening we can facilitate it 70:43 70:43 happen 70:44 70:44 um but we're not seeing it happening 70:46 70:46 it's much easier to go back to a 70:48 70:48 minister and say look we put an ad on 70:49 70:49 the side of a bus in london here's a 70:51 70:51 picture of it 70:52 70:52 we put an ad on cnn and this many people 70:54 70:54 watch cnn they're seeing nothing but 70:56 70:56 terrorism war and donald trump but they 70:58 70:58 didn't they might have seen this ad 70:59 70:59 in in that process in some way and all 71:02 71:02 that negativity they might have thought 71:04 71:04 about a holiday 71:05 71:05 um so 71:08 71:08 that organic if you want to call it or 71:10 71:10 user generated marketing is so much more 71:12 71:12 powerful 71:13 71:13 but we don't just have to let it happen 71:14 71:14 in isolation there are means and 71:16 71:16 technologies that let us take advantage 71:18 71:18 of that through what we call aggregation 71:20 71:20 there's software that can pull together 71:22 71:22 all of that content australia started 71:24 71:24 this 71:25 71:25 many years ago now that one of the first 71:26 71:26 destinations to do it 71:28 71:28 is a destination they started using 71:32 71:32 aggregation tools to pull together all 71:34 71:34 those publicly posted 71:35 71:35 instagram photos and facebook photos and 71:37 71:37 content and then 71:38 71:38 purposing and repurposing that with 71:40 71:40 permission of the user um 71:41 71:41 into marketing material and it's what 90 71:43 71:43 of their digital content now is not from 71:45 71:45 professional photographers not from 71:46 71:46 filmmakers but 71:47 71:47 from actual visitors to the country 71:51 71:51 influencers can be useful as as john 71:53 71:53 said but choose them carefully 71:54 71:54 don't just bring someone to the country 71:56 71:56 that wants to stand by a pool with a 71:57 71:57 glass of champagne in their hand 71:59 71:59 because guess what every tourist does 72:01 72:01 that and they influence their family and 72:02 72:02 friends 72:03 72:03 influences work when it's someone who 72:04 72:04 has a large following specialized to a 72:06 72:06 particular interest 72:08 72:08 i've done a lot in the adventure travel 72:09 72:09 space there are certain hikers if you 72:11 72:11 get them on a trail 72:12 72:12 people will respond to that because and 72:14 72:14 you know it because they're given 72:16 72:16 backpacks and gear and they represent 72:18 72:18 brands as well because they've got that 72:19 72:19 credibility 72:21 72:21 so we can have that pure organic content 72:23 72:23 that we aggregate and 72:24 72:24 repurposes marketing material we can 72:26 72:26 have that qualified insults of content 72:28 72:28 that we use 72:29 72:29 and then we can look at some of that 72:30 72:30 media buying um potential as well but it 72:33 72:33 should be about amplifying that organic 72:35 72:35 or user generated 72:36 72:36 content we really do have to understand 72:38 72:38 that the market has changed why did we 72:40 72:40 spend so much time in travel shows 72:42 72:42 because two operators told us to we're 72:45 72:45 now 72:45 72:45 seeing a shift towards fully independent 72:47 72:47 travelers how do you access an 72:48 72:48 independent traveler through a trade 72:50 72:50 show 72:50 72:50 do you really think people in london go 72:52 72:52 to wtm the public 72:54 72:54 to look and decide where they're going 72:56 72:56 to travel and walk around and collect 72:57 72:57 brochures 72:58 72:58 why firstly it's in the middle of 72:59 72:59 nowhere out at canary wharf 73:02 73:02 and secondly people don't go to people 73:05 73:05 don't book or buy travel that way um 73:08 73:08 think about the way that you 73:10 73:10 see places that you're gonna visit 73:11 73:11 you're seeing them online and 73:13 73:13 how many times have you seen an 73:15 73:15 instagram photo from one of your friends 73:16 73:16 or family and thought wow i'd like to go 73:17 73:17 there that's marketing now 73:20 73:20 we're getting caught up in these old 73:21 73:21 school models because they work for 73:23 73:23 certain types of businesses which 73:25 73:25 themselves are changing now i'm sure 73:27 73:27 there's some tour operators in the 73:28 73:28 audience that are saying someone cut 73:29 73:29 this guy's microphone off because he's 73:31 73:31 saying that two operators don't have a 73:32 73:32 role anymore 73:33 73:33 or shouldn't be the focus of our 73:34 73:34 destination that's absolutely not true 73:37 73:37 there's more of a role to operators than 73:38 73:38 ever before 73:40 73:40 but it's a different form of provision 73:43 73:43 of tours 73:44 73:44 the largest investment in technology and 73:47 73:47 travel in the last five years 73:48 73:48 has been into the tour operator space 73:51 73:51 but it's a new form 73:52 73:52 of two operations it's what we call 73:54 73:54 in-destination access to experiences 73:57 73:57 it is people with their smartphones that 73:59 73:59 wake up in the morning once they've 74:01 74:01 traveled independently to a country and 74:02 74:02 say what am i going to do 74:04 74:04 today open up their phone and find local 74:06 74:06 businesses that can give them a cultural 74:08 74:08 experience a food 74:09 74:09 cooking experience an adventure a hike 74:11 74:11 anything like that sometimes a multi-day 74:13 74:13 experience but they find it when they're 74:14 74:14 already there in destination 74:16 74:16 and that shift again is happening go 74:18 74:18 back to pre-covert 74:19 74:19 20 of active travel options were booked 74:22 74:22 not months in advance not weeks in 74:24 74:24 advance 74:24 74:24 20 of them were booked on the same day 74:27 74:27 that people had that experience because 74:29 74:29 they found them through their phones 74:30 74:30 and we've seen heavy investment into 74:32 74:32 those platforms that enable two 74:34 74:34 operators to list product online and for 74:36 74:36 individual 74:37 74:37 independent travelers to find them and 74:39 74:39 we know that's the future because if you 74:41 74:41 look at those platforms 74:43 74:43 they're increasingly being bought by the 74:45 74:45 bigger players 74:46 74:46 some of the software that enables two 74:48 74:48 operators to do that has been bought by 74:50 74:50 booking.com 74:51 74:51 by tripadvisor who bought broken by 74:54 74:54 fair harbor that was described by 74:55 74:55 booking.com those 74:57 74:57 in-destination experience booking 74:60 74:60 platforms are 75:01 75:01 now a critical part of the business 75:02 75:02 equation you can see that that's the 75:04 75:04 future 75:05 75:05 so yes we need to look at this new 75:07 75:07 business environment 75:09 75:09 we need to look at what works when it 75:11 75:11 comes to driving people into it and it 75:13 75:13 is predominantly that organic 75:15 75:15 user generated content from other 75:17 75:17 travelers and tourists 75:18 75:18 it's not that commercial material as i 75:22 75:22 started saying earlier before 75:23 75:23 think about your own experiences how 75:26 75:26 many tv commercials are you even 75:28 75:28 seeing these days netflix has no 75:30 75:30 advertising 75:31 75:31 most streaming services have no 75:33 75:33 advertising 75:35 75:35 so why would we even 75:46 75:46 yes uh germany i think we lost it 75:50 75:50 slightly there but 75:50 75:50 i'll quickly move into john one more 75:52 75:52 question uh i think a lot of questions 75:54 75:54 coming in so we need to actually release 75:55 75:55 some time 75:56 75:56 don't forget to ask for a question just 75:58 75:58 get into the um 75:59 75:59 if you're in the zoom please go to the q 76:02 76:02 a and chat function 76:03 76:03 or if you're on joining on the facebook 76:05 76:05 just go and ask your questions 76:07 76:07 or go to slido.com using the uh 76:10 76:10 sri lanka tourism you can ask all the 76:12 76:12 questions um 76:14 76:14 john one question which like to 76:16 76:16 basically before we 76:18 76:18 get into the q a is that 76:21 76:21 in the research which you talked done by 76:23 76:23 the university they talked about the 76:25 76:25 there are some strongly associated 76:27 76:27 certain images 76:28 76:28 you know such as the talking about happy 76:30 76:30 joyful 76:31 76:31 pleasant exciting and amazing and 76:34 76:34 relaxing 76:35 76:35 these are the ones which comes in in 76:37 76:37 terms of post experience 76:38 76:38 now when we analyze the according to the 76:41 76:41 research when you analyze the 76:42 76:42 destination communication 76:44 76:44 messaging strategy it does not come out 76:47 76:47 those elements were not coming out so 76:49 76:49 what we had was like a picture of 76:51 76:51 a rock or a picture of a certain place a 76:54 76:54 man-made or natural attraction 76:56 76:56 mostly and then we were actually 76:58 76:58 showcasing from that so 76:59 76:59 has the world destination marketing or 77:02 77:02 communication shifted 77:03 77:03 from showing man-made or natural 77:06 77:06 attractions for people to come and take 77:07 77:07 a 77:08 77:08 picture or we are now showing more and 77:10 77:10 more emotions 77:11 77:11 so that you know they would actually 77:13 77:13 reflect 77:14 77:14 that and associate that for that 77:16 77:16 particular feeling and come 77:17 77:17 what's your view on that yeah well 77:21 77:21 i i i hesitate to keep on repeating what 77:23 77:23 what we've already said and 77:24 77:24 what damian's already said um but but 77:28 77:28 it is you know the the what you're 77:30 77:30 referring to there is the reactions that 77:32 77:32 people have 77:33 77:33 um have expressed when they've come to 77:36 77:36 sri lanka and they have experienced 77:37 77:37 themselves 77:38 77:38 what you have to offer that is absolute 77:41 77:41 gold 77:41 77:41 if people come to sri lanka and they 77:43 77:43 have a great experience where it's a 77:44 77:44 well-known 77:45 77:45 experience it's a culinary experience 77:47 77:47 it's wildlife whatever it may be 77:49 77:49 and they're willing to say how amazing 77:51 77:51 it was and they and they and they share 77:53 77:53 that experience 77:54 77:54 with their with their friends and family 77:56 77:56 online that is absolute gold dust 77:58 77:58 and it is absolutely what should be the 78:00 78:00 core of your marketing now 78:02 78:02 that's not to say there is not still a 78:04 78:04 place 78:05 78:05 uh for you know beautiful images of 78:08 78:08 cultural attractions beautiful images of 78:09 78:09 the landscape etc 78:11 78:11 but the core of the marketing and the 78:12 78:12 communication must be content 78:14 78:14 and that content has to be authentic and 78:16 78:16 what is more authentic than 78:18 78:18 user-generated content 78:19 78:19 that is provided by people who've been 78:21 78:21 there themselves and seen it 78:23 78:23 because word of mouth is so so powerful 78:26 78:26 and i'll just pick up again on a point 78:28 78:28 that 78:28 78:28 damien referred to which is influences 78:30 78:30 qualifying influencers 78:32 78:32 and i used to run a pr agency in 78:34 78:34 singapore 78:35 78:35 and one of our clients our biggest 78:37 78:37 client in fact was the world's largest 78:38 78:38 manufacturer of fast-moving consumer 78:40 78:40 goods 78:41 78:41 and they're they're all in on content 78:43 78:43 marketing and influence and influencer 78:45 78:45 strategy 78:46 78:46 um whether it's shampoo brand or 78:48 78:48 whatever it may be 78:49 78:49 and so we used to spend a lot of time 78:50 78:50 qualifying influencers 78:52 78:52 and there's a very simple methodology 78:54 78:54 for doing that which is yes it's about 78:56 78:56 reach it's about how many followers 78:58 78:58 that particular influencer has but much 79:01 79:01 more important 79:01 79:01 is their credibility with that audience 79:04 79:04 and so 79:05 79:05 you know as i mentioned in the session 79:07 79:07 we did with sltda 79:08 79:08 kim kardashian west is the queen of the 79:11 79:11 internet she's the most famous 79:12 79:12 influencer of all 79:14 79:14 more than 200 million followers is she 79:16 79:16 the right influencer 79:18 79:18 to promote a wellness product in sri 79:19 79:19 lanka i'd suggest probably not 79:22 79:22 so you need to look at people who've got 79:24 79:24 credibility with their audience actually 79:26 79:26 micro 79:27 79:27 influencers are very very important 79:30 79:30 because there are people who are 79:31 79:31 passionate about a particular topic or a 79:33 79:33 particular subject 79:34 79:34 or a particular destination for example 79:37 79:37 and they are followed by people who are 79:39 79:39 equally passionate because that's why 79:40 79:40 they're following them 79:42 79:42 so those people have credibility so 79:43 79:43 identifying those people who have 79:45 79:45 yes they have a significant following 79:47 79:47 but they have credibility with that 79:49 79:49 following because they are genuinely 79:50 79:50 knowledgeable 79:51 79:51 and genuinely enthusiastic about that 79:54 79:54 topic 79:55 79:55 and that then gives you relevant 79:57 79:57 resonance with that particular audience 79:58 79:58 so if you then work with that influencer 80:01 80:01 you're working through them to target a 80:03 80:03 very specific 80:04 80:04 subset of the overall demographic very 80:07 80:07 specific niche audience 80:08 80:08 who might be interested in a culinary 80:11 80:11 experience in sri lanka for example 80:12 80:12 or a wellness experience and one other 80:15 80:15 thing i'll pick up on 80:16 80:16 just just very quickly and again don't 80:19 80:19 you mention it it's about 80:20 80:20 it's about valuing the unique what makes 80:23 80:23 you unique 80:24 80:24 and actually pushing your your market up 80:27 80:27 pushing your price pricing level upwards 80:30 80:30 and a very good example of this is a 80:31 80:31 country i in fact grew up in which is 80:33 80:33 botswana 80:34 80:34 in southern africa now they have an 80:36 80:36 absolute jewel which is yokovango delta 80:39 80:39 which is an absolutely unique landscape 80:42 80:42 and 80:42 80:42 what they have done uh very deliberately 80:44 80:44 is they have avoided 80:46 80:46 the mass market this is way before covet 80:49 80:49 they've avoided mass market tourism and 80:51 80:51 made it very niche and very selective 80:53 80:53 and 80:53 80:53 very expensive they very strictly 80:55 80:55 controlled 80:56 80:56 the number of operators and the number 80:58 80:58 of visitors who can go into uh the parks 81:00 81:00 like the cebu 81:02 81:02 or or the um the mourinho game reserve 81:05 81:05 and so consequently when you go there 81:07 81:07 you get an absolutely 81:09 81:09 unique experience uh because it is not 81:12 81:12 if you see a pride of lines you're not 81:14 81:14 surrounded by 20 other vehicles 81:16 81:16 you're there by yourself and so that you 81:18 81:18 know that's just a very small example 81:20 81:20 of if you have something really unique 81:22 81:22 and you you value it 81:24 81:24 and you preserve it you can actually 81:26 81:26 upsell it and make it very uh 81:28 81:28 very very very very to a very specific 81:32 81:32 audience 81:35 81:35 uh thank you john just one more question 81:37 81:37 before we move into the 81:38 81:38 question and answers damien we know the 81:41 81:41 battle of 81:42 81:42 slogans by destinations and this is very 81:45 81:45 very famous because most of the people 81:47 81:47 think 81:47 81:47 destination market equals the slogan and 81:50 81:50 their culmination of destination 81:51 81:51 marketing 81:52 81:52 is a creation of the slogan and we have 81:54 81:54 seen we have gone through many and when 81:56 81:56 we looked at it very carefully i was 81:58 81:58 look for this particular purpose looking 82:00 82:00 at so-called the most successful slogan 82:02 82:02 that is available incredible india 82:04 82:04 but when i really reflect on it has it 82:07 82:07 really 82:07 82:07 changed the image of india or has it 82:10 82:10 really changed the way we think of in 82:12 82:12 india for the last 20 years the answer 82:14 82:14 for me is no 82:16 82:16 but it has given some edge now this is a 82:19 82:19 very sensitive subject because people 82:20 82:20 take pride in it 82:22 82:22 so they because they're saying most of 82:23 82:23 the time destination market equals to 82:26 82:26 to the slogan what is your 82:29 82:29 view and recommendation on how to 82:32 82:32 navigate thinking the sensitivity of the 82:34 82:34 people and the stakeholders 82:35 82:35 as well as the stereotyping of slogans 82:38 82:38 in 82:39 82:39 in terms of destination marketing 82:43 82:43 uh hi sorry for getting cut off before 82:46 82:46 as well your system 82:47 82:47 system seemed to cut out from under me 82:48 82:48 um 82:50 82:50 the um yeah i mean look there's nothing 82:52 82:52 wrong with a good strap line or a good 82:54 82:54 slogan 82:55 82:55 um and people do remember some of them 82:57 82:57 like like india's obviously got a pretty 82:59 82:59 memorable one i think that's more to do 83:00 83:00 with their volume of advertising around 83:02 83:02 it 83:02 83:02 possibly um malaysia as well but the 83:05 83:05 vast majority 83:06 83:06 of them aren't known and i and i and i 83:09 83:09 think it's 83:09 83:09 much more important as a corporate tool 83:12 83:12 for 83:13 83:13 a dmo or a tourist board what it gives 83:15 83:15 you is some sense of the brand and 83:17 83:17 some sense of the way that you want to 83:20 83:20 communicate 83:21 83:21 a messaging manual almost you can tie 83:22 83:22 back to that central message or concept 83:24 83:24 that you have 83:25 83:25 but whether or not a slogan has ever 83:27 83:27 really influenced anyone to travel to a 83:29 83:29 country 83:29 83:29 i don't think um i've seen some very 83:32 83:32 interesting research where people were 83:33 83:33 asked as in 83:34 83:34 departure lounges of airports to name 83:37 83:37 the slogan of the destination they were 83:38 83:38 leaving or draw the logo and the vast 83:40 83:40 majority of them could not do 83:42 83:42 either um think of the last country you 83:44 83:44 visited and tell me 83:45 83:45 if you can remember it's it's slogan or 83:47 83:47 draw its logo 83:49 83:49 um but those things are good as 83:51 83:51 corporate messages as i say 83:52 83:52 that is the brand of your tourist board 83:55 83:55 more than the brand of the country 83:56 83:56 and what it does it defines their 83:58 83:58 approach to messaging the destination 83:59 83:59 which is important 84:00 84:00 um and the logo is something they can 84:02 84:02 use to identify themselves definitely 84:04 84:04 but in terms of it actually inspiring 84:06 84:06 people to travel 84:07 84:07 i don't think so it's more of an 84:08 84:08 expression of the central brand value 84:11 84:11 that you have 84:12 84:12 for the destination um i i would suggest 84:16 84:16 but you know branding and marketing is a 84:17 84:17 lot more complex than 84:18 84:18 the simplicity of a of a pretty logo and 84:21 84:21 a strap line there's a lot more to it 84:24 84:24 than that there's been some work done 84:26 84:26 looking into it you know apparently they 84:28 84:28 say that millennial 84:29 84:29 travelers don't like prescriptive 84:31 84:31 branding 84:32 84:32 meaning that if they're told things like 84:34 84:34 visit taiwan they'll say 84:36 84:36 why um love new york what if i don't 84:39 84:39 then it comes down to don't tell me what 84:42 84:42 to do 84:43 84:43 don't give me a prescription and tell me 84:44 84:44 what i have to do 84:46 84:46 they prefer adjectives you know things 84:48 84:48 that 84:49 84:49 someone gives them a sense of the 84:50 84:50 country but i really do think that a lot 84:52 84:52 of dmos get too bogged down in that 84:55 84:55 um it's a branding exercise that can be 84:57 84:57 done initially it 84:58 84:58 expresses your corporate values but 85:01 85:01 someone actually being inspired to 85:02 85:02 travel to sri lanka someone finding 85:04 85:04 experiences they want to have there 85:06 85:06 someone finding who can give them to 85:07 85:07 them 85:08 85:08 is a much more complex process than just 85:10 85:10 a single word 85:12 85:12 or or or an image 85:15 85:15 thank you damon thank you for that um 85:17 85:17 since we got a lot of questions i think 85:19 85:19 uh 85:20 85:20 we'll just start with uh i think there's 85:22 85:22 a question comes in 85:23 85:23 the first question is should the airport 85:25 85:25 tax be removed 85:26 85:26 at least temporary embargation the 85:29 85:29 embarkation tax that's there 85:33 85:33 at the moment that decision has not been 85:36 85:36 made but what we are looking at 85:38 85:38 is for the visa which is normally thirty 85:41 85:41 five dollars 85:42 85:42 um and twenty five dollars if you're 85:45 85:45 assa country 85:46 85:46 uh normally you would have got a visa 85:48 85:48 for one month 85:49 85:49 but we have suggested to the cabinet 85:52 85:52 that 85:53 85:53 um the visa should be given for 85:55 85:55 six months itself so that that's 85:58 85:58 something 85:59 85:59 we're looking at all right thank you 86:02 86:02 oh another question i was a trainiac at 86:04 86:04 the sltpb 86:05 86:05 and i and i have to say that the there 86:08 86:08 is very slow 86:09 86:09 do is there a plan on restructuring is 86:12 86:12 it 86:13 86:13 the i was a trainee at sltpb 86:16 86:16 okay and i have to say that the system 86:18 86:18 there is slow 86:19 86:19 do they plan on restructuring absolutely 86:23 86:23 there is a plan on restructuring uh in 86:26 86:26 fact as i mentioned before as well on 86:28 86:28 the 86:29 86:29 the whole model we will change 86:30 86:30 completely actually uh we brought in 86:33 86:33 some 86:33 86:33 new fresh blood as well we have 86:35 86:35 sponsored by some of the 86:37 86:37 funding agencies as well you know the 86:40 86:40 organization has been 86:41 86:41 there for the last 50 odd years and 86:46 86:46 historically that's got politicized and 86:48 86:48 so on 86:49 86:49 um so it's it's a it's a process that we 86:52 86:52 have to go through 86:53 86:53 uh and i think i believe the team is 86:55 86:55 ready to do that 86:57 86:57 thank you just move to damian for one 86:59 86:59 more question damian uh 87:01 87:01 the question is that should we use 87:03 87:03 digital tools more 87:04 87:04 to help boost the industry rather than 87:06 87:06 depending on the 87:08 87:08 more traditional tools i mean you 87:09 87:09 explain that but if you say that is the 87:11 87:11 case can you just 87:13 87:13 recommend few some of the strategies 87:17 87:17 of course yes um i mean digital was had 87:20 87:20 become the predominant channel for 87:22 87:22 travel pre-covered and now it's 87:24 87:24 even more so um there's been a 71 87:27 87:27 increase of digital consumption this 87:29 87:29 year because of the lockdowns 87:31 87:31 um one of the things it's done has it's 87:34 87:34 taken 87:34 87:34 even those offline travelers that we 87:37 87:37 that we had and 87:38 87:38 forced them online people have been even 87:41 87:41 those reluctant people that weren't 87:42 87:42 using online tools this year discovered 87:44 87:44 discovered them through necessity so it 87:47 87:47 really is the most 87:48 87:48 important realm um we need to look 87:50 87:50 before we even talk about techniques 87:52 87:52 look at budget allocations 87:54 87:54 any dmo that's spending more on other 87:56 87:56 forms of marketing than digital 87:58 87:58 that's the first nut to crack and say 87:60 87:60 why on earth would you be doing that 88:02 88:02 um particularly when you look at how 88:04 88:04 incredibly better 88:05 88:05 value you get for digital what you can 88:08 88:08 do in terms of digital media buy as 88:10 88:10 opposed to tvc buys or television 88:12 88:12 commercials or any of those those those 88:14 88:14 big global campaigns a lot more and you 88:16 88:16 can reach a lot more people and you can 88:17 88:17 segment it a lot more effectively what i 88:20 88:20 would really suggest in sri lanka though 88:22 88:22 is don't just have a digital campaign 88:24 88:24 but two things 88:25 88:25 don't have a digital campaign that is 88:26 88:26 siloed from the rest of the destination 88:28 88:28 don't have one person who works at the 88:31 88:31 dmo who is digital guy 88:33 88:33 and maybe a digital team there's no such 88:35 88:35 thing as digital guy 88:36 88:36 digital team anymore digital is part of 88:38 88:38 every part of tourism from product 88:40 88:40 development 88:41 88:41 and its online presence to on sales and 88:44 88:44 distribution 88:46 88:46 um to pr and communications everyone 88:49 88:49 needs those digital skills 88:51 88:51 everyone in the organization should be 88:52 88:52 digital guy not that one 88:54 88:54 poor old digital guy that used to sit in 88:56 88:56 an office and people would come and tell 88:57 88:57 him their printer's not working 88:59 88:59 um so it is about digitally empowering 89:02 89:02 the whole organization 89:05 89:05 and then moving beyond the organization 89:07 89:07 as well as you've seen from some of the 89:08 89:08 examples i've given you user-generated 89:11 89:11 content 89:12 89:12 comes from tourists the best point of 89:15 89:15 access to those tourists are the tourist 89:17 89:17 businesses so we use this term called 89:22 89:22 destination communitization how can you 89:24 89:24 build relationships between the trade 89:26 89:26 and the dmo a public private sector 89:28 89:28 partnership 89:29 89:29 where you have travelers that share 89:31 89:31 their experiences 89:34 89:34 through the location tags that they use 89:35 89:35 to tag that to a business to a hotel to 89:37 89:37 a place they're in or the hashtags that 89:39 89:39 they use 89:40 89:40 that we aggregate that together through 89:42 89:42 the tourist businesses themselves 89:45 89:45 so they can use it but then also that 89:46 89:46 they make that content accessible to the 89:48 89:48 destination as well 89:49 89:49 and you create what's called a 89:51 89:51 destination community a content 89:52 89:52 community we call them when we set them 89:54 89:54 up 89:55 89:55 um and those can be a broad destination 89:57 89:57 content community it can be a 89:59 89:59 regional specific content community 90:01 90:01 around a particular area it can be a 90:03 90:03 thematic content community around the 90:04 90:04 diving industry the wellness industry 90:06 90:06 the adventure industry and so on 90:08 90:08 and that lets you what we call purpose 90:11 90:11 and repurpose that content for multiple 90:13 90:13 purposes that we draw from the industry 90:15 90:15 so it's not just about which platforms 90:17 90:17 should we advertise on and those are 90:18 90:18 sort of the obvious you know instagram 90:20 90:20 is is the most powerful when it comes to 90:22 90:22 travel in most markets and there's other 90:24 90:24 tools out there facebook a lot of 90:25 90:25 location-based tools as well 90:27 90:27 um tripadvisor has a huge influence on 90:29 90:29 tribal decisions as well 90:32 90:32 um but it's also about how you use them 90:34 90:34 and it's how you use them 90:35 90:35 in partnership with the industry so 90:37 90:37 break down the silos the silo of digital 90:40 90:40 within the dmo so you don't just have 90:41 90:41 digital department 90:42 90:42 and then the breakdown of content access 90:45 90:45 and marketing from 90:46 90:46 into public private sector partnerships 90:48 90:48 between dmo 90:49 90:49 and the trade thanks thank you um 90:52 90:52 thank you damian um tomorrow one more 90:55 90:55 last question before you 90:56 90:56 you leave us the the current strategy 90:59 90:59 seems to be targeting high-end tourists 91:01 91:01 what are we doing to attract the 91:02 91:02 millennial tourists 91:05 91:05 actually the current strategy is not to 91:08 91:08 attract only uh high-end now there's a 91:11 91:11 misunderstanding i think 91:13 91:13 when you say high-end that doesn't mean 91:15 91:15 it's 91:16 91:16 750 or 2000 rooms 91:20 91:20 it's a higher return a higher 91:23 91:23 value for the consumer our customer 91:26 91:26 as well as for ourselves so with regards 91:29 91:29 to the millennium traveler i think the 91:30 91:30 adventure tourism 91:32 91:32 the sports even the app i mentioned 91:34 91:34 before where i was saying the hiking 91:37 91:37 the the camping sites and all that which 91:40 91:40 will be on the 91:42 91:42 app as well these are the areas that i 91:45 91:45 think we will focus on 91:47 91:47 get expertise actually from outside as 91:49 91:49 well 91:50 91:50 uh to help us out with some of these 91:53 91:53 areas that 91:54 91:54 we don't possibly have the lip expertise 91:57 91:57 in 91:57 91:57 internally all right great thank you 92:00 92:00 krimali for joining us i know that you 92:02 92:02 care 92:02 92:02 schedule to come in with a very very 92:04 92:04 busy schedule and uh thanks for joining 92:06 92:06 us and for a wonderful time 92:07 92:07 yes uh it'll be very useful for us thank 92:10 92:10 you so 92:11 92:11 those of you are joining just now please 92:12 92:12 do not hesitate to ask your questions we 92:14 92:14 can take a few more 92:16 92:16 and we will actually uh pass your 92:18 92:18 questions to the two experts that you 92:20 92:20 are working with us 92:22 92:22 right now on the webinar and your 92:23 92:23 questions can be uh directly 92:25 92:25 given to uh either on zoom using the q a 92:30 92:30 or you can actually go to facebook or 92:31 92:31 you also can go to slider.com 92:34 92:34 and use the hashtag sri lanka tourism 92:36 92:36 damian 92:37 92:37 one question that comes to you again um 92:43 92:43 given the uh the high recovery of rate 92:46 92:46 and the low fatal the 92:47 92:47 fatality rate in terms of corona should 92:50 92:50 we highlight this as a factor 92:52 92:52 as something to promote the destination 92:54 92:54 currently as part of the communication i 92:56 92:56 shouldn't be 92:57 92:57 uh silent about it one of the viewers is 92:59 92:59 asking the question 93:01 93:01 sure and actually before i even get into 93:03 93:03 that if i could just jump on to the 93:04 93:04 point kamali was just making 93:06 93:06 with the previous question because i 93:07 93:07 just want to make that clear when we 93:08 93:08 talked about 93:09 93:09 um demographics millennial travelers are 93:12 93:12 not poor travelers 93:14 93:14 um we don't talk about the high end 93:15 93:15 versus the millennials 93:17 93:17 at all um millennials 93:21 93:21 make make money the millennials also are 93:24 93:24 getting married 93:25 93:25 much later or not at all than previous 93:26 93:26 generations having children much later 93:29 93:29 um they're not all so they've got more 93:31 93:31 disposable income at a younger age than 93:32 93:32 previous generations 93:34 93:34 they also spend less per trip than those 93:37 93:37 baby boomers and older travels but they 93:38 93:38 travel a lot more 93:40 93:40 not just one trip a year they'll often 93:41 93:41 do several a year 93:43 93:43 as well travel is extremely important to 93:45 93:45 them and they invest money into it 93:47 93:47 they often stay longer as well if you 93:50 93:50 look at australia for example 93:51 93:51 everyone knows the backpackers that go 93:53 93:53 and make their way up the east coast of 93:54 93:54 australia 93:55 93:55 you would call them poor travelers but 93:57 93:57 don't forget they normally take two 93:58 93:58 months or three months to do that 94:00 94:00 so they're spent when you accumulate 94:02 94:02 what they're spending every day they're 94:03 94:03 spending more than 94:04 94:04 someone who comes for a tip for for a 94:06 94:06 week um to the country 94:08 94:08 so don't please consider two things 94:10 94:10 high-end travel versus millennials 94:12 94:12 there are high-end and mid-range and 94:14 94:14 low-end travelers in all demographics 94:16 94:16 uh sorry back to your question or should 94:18 94:18 you promote your low case numbers 94:20 94:20 no um that is a real risk and several 94:23 94:23 destinations fell into that trap in the 94:25 94:25 early days of covert 94:26 94:26 we don't have it so let's market 94:28 94:28 ourselves covert free 94:30 94:30 you do not want that message out there 94:32 94:32 when that situation changes and 94:33 94:33 unfortunately 94:34 94:34 it can when you open up as a destination 94:37 94:37 many countries are unfortunately going 94:39 94:39 through this process 94:40 94:40 now i work with jordan in the middle 94:42 94:42 east who had almost completely 94:43 94:43 eliminated the virus 94:46 94:46 that opened to essential travel they now 94:49 94:49 have one of the highest infection rates 94:51 94:51 in the world 94:52 94:52 you can't predict what's going to happen 94:54 94:54 in your destination and you do not want 94:56 94:56 to make a bold statement like that we're 94:58 94:58 free from covert 94:59 94:59 or it's not impacting our destination 95:01 95:01 maybe it's true and hopefully 95:02 95:02 god willing it will be for sri lanka 95:04 95:04 into the future 95:06 95:06 um but it's a very big risk to go out 95:08 95:08 there 95:09 95:09 marketing yourself as as having a low 95:11 95:11 rate of infection 95:12 95:12 um because that can very quickly become 95:15 95:15 not true 95:16 95:16 and it's not stuff and don't forget one 95:18 95:18 of the 95:21 95:21 challenges 95:24 95:24 online it is important that we do 95:27 95:27 practice ephemeral messaging 95:28 95:28 um when we talk about crisis management 95:30 95:30 destinations these days if you post 95:32 95:32 something online and the situation 95:33 95:33 changes 95:33 95:33 go back and delete it people forget to 95:35 95:35 do that they forget that search engines 95:37 95:37 and histories will pull up those old 95:38 95:38 statements there's old 95:42 95:42 last thing you want to have out there is 95:43 95:43 sri lanka has a low rate of infection or 95:45 95:45 we're covered free when the opposite is 95:46 95:46 happening 95:47 95:47 in countries so no and i really don't 95:50 95:50 think 95:50 95:50 um even worked 95:56 95:56 thank you damian thank you damian if 95:58 95:58 your detail lance on that john 96:00 96:00 this question for you uh have we 96:03 96:03 invested too much 96:04 96:04 in tourism resulting over capacity made 96:07 96:07 worse by coronavirus i know that you're 96:09 96:09 not 96:10 96:10 fully aware of the statistics etc but uh 96:12 96:12 is this a fair assessment 96:14 96:14 by uh by the questions that have been 96:16 96:16 raised here 96:19 96:19 i think to to be honest without wanting 96:20 96:20 to um to deduct a question i guess one 96:23 96:23 more one for for 96:24 96:24 damien but i'll actually just pick up on 96:27 96:27 something damian just said which is 96:29 96:29 about marketing yourself as coveted free 96:32 96:32 a direct analogy to this is the airline 96:34 96:34 industry and i do a lot of work with 96:36 96:36 airlines 96:36 96:36 around the world you will never see an 96:38 96:38 airline overtly marketing itself as 96:40 96:40 we are safe we haven't had an accident 96:42 96:42 therefore come and fly with us 96:44 96:44 because that safety message is implicit 96:46 96:46 in everything they do 96:48 96:48 now if you look for it you will find it 96:50 96:50 you will find it when they talk about 96:52 96:52 the type of aircraft they operate how 96:53 96:53 well-trained their pilots are 96:55 96:55 how they how well they maintain their 96:56 96:56 aircraft but you will never see them 96:58 96:58 saying we are the safest they might say 97:01 97:01 we offer opera 97:02 97:02 operate a very young fuel-efficient 97:03 97:03 fleet we have the best 97:06 97:06 pilots in the world whatever it may be 97:07 97:07 but they never address it uh head on 97:09 97:09 like that 97:10 97:10 uh because as david said that you have 97:11 97:11 one accident you're in time after 97:12 97:12 strategies out the window 97:14 97:14 and so if you market yourself as being 97:15 97:15 covered free all it takes is a 97:17 97:17 sudden outbreak of infections and that 97:19 97:19 strategy now is no longer 97:21 97:21 operative um so damien i'll let you pick 97:23 97:23 up the question about 97:24 97:24 over over development 97:28 97:28 yeah so have we yeah so the question is 97:31 97:31 that have we invested 97:32 97:32 too much in tourism resulting over 97:34 97:34 capacity 97:35 97:35 uh made worse by coronavirus or is it 97:37 97:37 the the 97:38 97:38 it's been asked that is it a fair 97:40 97:40 assessment which the 97:42 97:42 viewer has come into uh 97:46 97:46 possibly i i don't know the exact 97:48 97:48 investment levels in sri lanka or the 97:49 97:49 total number of hotel rooms available 97:51 97:51 um over tourism was all we talked about 97:54 97:54 in the tourism development space until 97:56 97:56 the start of this year it was such a 97:58 97:58 huge issue um certainly that 98:02 98:02 issue is gone with the coming of covert 98:04 98:04 but it's not certainly not something 98:05 98:05 that we want back 98:06 98:06 um it definitely was proving to be one 98:08 98:08 of the most 98:09 98:09 damaging elements to to come back to the 98:12 98:12 theme of today 98:13 98:13 to destination image and brand image 98:16 98:16 once you become known as an overcrowded 98:18 98:18 destination 98:19 98:19 it's very hard to to come back from that 98:22 98:22 and it was a 98:23 98:23 term that was starting to be used very 98:25 98:25 widely in many destinations 98:27 98:27 some people pooh-poohed over tourism 98:30 98:30 said that's not really a problem you 98:31 98:31 know how can you have too much business 98:33 98:33 you can and um and we saw that across 98:36 98:36 europe 98:36 98:36 um apart from the damage 98:39 98:39 to the destination image you also have a 98:42 98:42 damage 98:43 98:43 to local communities and people that 98:44 98:44 don't benefit from tourism that get sick 98:46 98:46 of tourism 98:47 98:47 uh the backlash the anti-tourism lobby 98:50 98:50 actually was a thing it was on the front 98:52 98:52 cover of time magazine last year 98:54 98:54 pre-covered 98:56 98:56 that around the world we started seeing 98:58 98:58 people protesting against tourism we 98:59 98:59 started seeing people voting in 99:00 99:00 politicians that promised to reduce or 99:02 99:02 remove 99:03 99:03 tourism because of its impact on 99:04 99:04 everyday life now of course this seems 99:07 99:07 like a 99:07 99:07 whole other world we're talking about 99:09 99:09 now but we certainly don't want to come 99:11 99:11 back with a model 99:12 99:12 that focuses on volume over value 99:16 99:16 that model is also not going to work in 99:17 99:17 this new world more than ever we need to 99:20 99:20 focus on 99:20 99:20 value over volume how many tourists can 99:24 99:24 we realistically get 99:25 99:25 how long can they stay and how much will 99:27 99:27 they spend those are the critical 99:28 99:28 metrics rather than arrival numbers 99:30 99:30 um that that we can focus on 99:35 99:35 you know sometimes it's not even over 99:36 99:36 development sometimes it's just focus on 99:38 99:38 the wrong markets 99:39 99:39 or partnerships with suppliers from the 99:41 99:41 wrong market 99:43 99:43 the chinese market which i know has been 99:44 99:44 a huge 99:46 99:46 growth market in many destinations has 99:49 99:49 also been one of the ones that has 99:51 99:51 proved to be one of the 99:53 99:53 drivers of prices downwards constantly 99:56 99:56 demands reduction of price and return 99:58 99:58 for volume 99:59 99:59 um and that's you know that's that that 100:00 100:00 that's been seen as one of the global 100:02 100:02 drivers of over tourism so we need to 100:04 100:04 assess the markets that we want to bring 100:06 100:06 back 100:06 100:06 and the value that we get from them as 100:07 100:07 well thanks thank you damian just uh 100:10 100:10 one last question you got a minute to 100:12 100:12 answer that 100:13 100:13 and you have covered this what is the 100:14 100:14 unique potential of sri lanka to market 100:16 100:16 as a 100:17 100:17 best tourism destination using 100:20 100:20 community-based tourism eco-tourism 100:21 100:21 agritourism 100:23 100:23 and spiritual tourism models what should 100:25 100:25 be the strategies for that if you can 100:27 100:27 just highlight two or three 100:28 100:28 uh strategies that can be used to market 100:30 100:30 it first whether we should be doing it 100:33 100:33 second what are the strategies that we 100:34 100:34 can make use of it 100:37 100:37 yeah i think all of those things are 100:38 100:38 things that you need to market because 100:40 100:40 you 100:40 100:40 they're all obviously come to mind even 100:42 100:42 with the research presentation we saw 100:44 100:44 today 100:44 100:44 a lot of those things that he took that 100:46 100:46 the professor talked about 100:47 100:47 um you know elephants nature tea 100:51 100:51 in terms of agritourism wellness and 100:53 100:53 spas 100:54 100:54 those are critical products and most 100:57 100:57 importantly they are 100:58 100:58 growth products um so it's looking at 101:02 101:02 those 101:02 101:02 products that you have and potential 101:04 101:04 products that have very strong 101:06 101:06 um appeal to to markets particularly to 101:10 101:10 these millennial markets and all of 101:11 101:11 those things 101:11 101:11 do and 101:14 101:14 really about targeting it to those right 101:16 101:16 travelers it's so easy now to segment 101:18 101:18 markets based on 101:20 101:20 on interest so that that really is one 101:22 101:22 of the fundamental ways that these 101:23 101:23 campaigns should be built 101:24 101:24 um one of the positive signs i see 101:28 101:28 from from chairman kamali that i think 101:30 101:30 is really important that sltd is doing 101:33 101:33 and not a lot of dmos are doing is 101:35 101:35 restructuring the organization 101:37 101:37 experientially 101:38 101:38 most dmos traditionally had someone a 101:40 101:40 bit like the digital guy i just talked 101:42 101:42 about 101:42 101:42 they had u.s market guy and china market 101:45 101:45 woman and the uk market warm 101:49 101:49 and whose specific job was 101:53 101:53 dealing with a particular national 101:54 101:54 market the reality is 101:57 101:57 someone that wants one of those products 101:58 101:58 you're talking about someone is 102:01 102:01 interested in 102:02 102:02 spiritual travel well those people exist 102:04 102:04 in the uk 102:05 102:05 people exist in in china hikers exist 102:08 102:08 in all those countries scuba divers 102:10 102:10 exist in those countries 102:11 102:11 and you're not going to reach them as an 102:13 102:13 american as a chinese person as a french 102:15 102:15 person you reach them as a diver as a 102:18 102:18 someone interested in in agritourism 102:20 102:20 someone interested in diving 102:23 102:23 the way we identify those people online 102:24 102:24 is through the community actions they 102:26 102:26 have 102:27 102:27 the instagram accounts they follow that 102:29 102:29 are specific to that activity to the 102:30 102:30 pages they like on facebook specific to 102:33 102:33 that activity 102:34 102:34 so the shift is from countries to 102:37 102:37 communities we need to start selling to 102:39 102:39 those communities 102:40 102:40 so by kamali's plan to restructure the 102:42 102:42 organization experientially 102:44 102:44 she's taking a huge bold but important 102:46 102:46 step um in the right direction 102:48 102:48 because you rather than selling just to 102:49 102:49 a national market you're selling to an 102:51 102:51 experiential market to a community 102:53 102:53 over a content so those through that 102:55 102:55 means and campaigns that specifically 102:57 102:57 reach out to those communities is how 102:59 102:59 you will uh promote those niche areas 103:02 103:02 thanks thank you damian and that's 103:04 103:04 actually comes to the end of the today's 103:06 103:06 webinar 103:06 103:06 brought to you by sri lanka tourism and 103:08 103:08 advocate institute 103:09 103:09 for the benefit of the tourism industry 103:11 103:11 especially thinking beyond kovid 103:13 103:13 and the importance of the image we were 103:15 103:15 looking at today the the imports of 103:17 103:17 understanding the audience 103:18 103:18 and their desires and also the right 103:21 103:21 experiences to be formulated 103:23 103:23 moving away from the mass tourism and 103:25 103:25 also the importance of millennials 103:26 103:26 to be added into that rethinking of sri 103:29 103:29 lanka tourism strategy 103:30 103:30 to fit into the post-core with 103:32 103:32 communication strategy and also the 103:34 103:34 importance of stakeholder 103:35 103:35 actually working with them it hand in 103:37 103:37 hand with the sri lankan tourism 103:39 103:39 to create one message but the many 103:41 103:41 messengers so with that note 103:43 103:43 thank you everyone for joining today for 103:44 103:44 the uh 103:46 103:46 for the research and i would like to 103:47 103:47 thank especially john bailey 103:49 103:49 the managing consultant global 103:51 103:51 communication consulting damien cook 103:53 103:53 founder and the ceo of tourism frontier 103:55 103:55 and dr kp laritz chandral senior 103:57 103:57 lecturer university of uh sejawa nepura 104:00 104:00 management faculty 104:01 104:01 as well as mrs krimali fernando chiapas 104:04 104:04 and sri lanka tourism 104:05 104:05 and the entire staff that will put this 104:07 104:07 forward together thank you very much 104:09 104:09 and hope for hopeful that you found this 104:12 104:12 particular 104:13 104:13 webinar very useful and see you again 104:15 104:15 maybe with another one thank you